Marco Rubio says he has stripped Qassem Soleimani’s niece of US residency

In a statement, the US State Department has accused Hamideh Soleimani Afshar of being an ‘outspoken supporter’ of Iran.
By Al Jazeera Staff
Published On 4 Apr 2026

The United States has revoked the permanent residency of two women it says are related to Qassem Soleimani, the late major general who led Iran’s Quds Force, the foreign branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), from 1998 until his assassination in 2020.

In a statement on Saturday, the US Department of State asserted that Soleimani’s niece, Hamideh Soleimani Afshar, and her daughter were arrested on Friday night.

Both are currently being held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), as the US seeks their departure from the country.

The case raises questions about the limits of free speech rights in the US and the extent to which family members should be punished for their relations.

Citing media reports and social media posts, the State Department described Soleimani Afshar as “an outspoken supporter of the totalitarian, terrorist regime in Iran”. It added that such speech would not be tolerated under US President Donald Trump.

“The Trump Administration will not allow our country to become a home for foreign nationals who support anti-American terrorist regimes,” the statement said.

But Iranian media quoted Soleimani’s daughter, Zeinab Soleimani, as issuing a denial that the two women arrested had any ties whatsoever to the late Quds Force leader.

“The individuals arrested in the United States have no connection whatsoever to martyr Soleimani, and the claim made by the US State Department is false,” Zeinab said in a statement.

The arrests come at the five-week mark of the US and Israeli war on Iran, which began on February 28.

Saturday’s announcement is the second known instance this month that the Trump administration has stripped legal immigration status from individuals allegedly related to Iranian leaders.

On social media, Secretary of State Marco Rubio took credit for the decision to nix the two women’s green cards. He pointed to Soleimani Afshar’s comments as the reason for her and her daughter’s arrest.

“This week, I terminated both Afshar and her daughter’s legal status,” Rubio wrote.

“She is also an outspoken supporter of the Iranian regime who celebrated attacks on Americans and referred to our country as the ‘Great Satan’.”

The State Department also highlighted Soleimani Afshar’s “lavish lifestyle” in Los Angeles in its statement. As part of the decision, Soleimani Afshar’s husband is also barred from entering the US.