The niece and grand-niece of the late Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps commander, Gen Qasem Soleimani, have been detained, the US State Department announced according to BBC.
Hamideh Soleimani Afshar and her daughter had their lawful US permanent resident status revoked by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, according to a statement released on Saturday.
However, Soleimani’s daughter has dismissed the claims, saying the arrested women “have no connection whatsoever” to her father.
Soleimani, Iran’s most powerful military commander, was killed in 2020 in a US air strike in Iraq, ordered by then US President Donald Trump.
Rubio stated on social media that the two women were in the custody of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), pending removal from the country. He described them as “green card holders living lavishly in the United States.”
After entering the US on a tourist visa in 2015, Soleimani Afshar was granted asylum in 2019 and became a green card holder in 2021, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said. In a 2025 naturalisation application, she disclosed visiting Iran four times since receiving her green card, which DHS said “illustrates her asylum claims were fraudulent.”
Soleimani Afshar’s daughter, Sarinasadat Hosseiny, arrived in the US in 2015 on a student visa, was granted asylum in 2019, and received a green card in 2023.
The State Department described Soleimani Afshar as an “outspoken supporter of the totalitarian, terrorist regime in Iran” who promoted “Iranian regime propaganda” on social media. Her husband has also been barred from the US.
In response, Narjes Soleimani, Soleimani’s daughter, stated: “The individuals arrested in the US have no connection whatsoever to Martyr Soleimani and the claims made by the US State Department are false.” She further criticised the US for “fabricating lies against a great figure.”
Soleimani led Iranian military operations in the Middle East as head of the elite Quds Force. He was killed at Baghdad airport along with other Iran-backed militia figures.
Trump later referenced Soleimani in a national address, saying: “I killed Gen Qasem Soleimani in my first term. He was an evil genius, brilliant person, a horrible human being, however, the father of the roadside bomb, and he lived just horrible, what he did.” He added that Iran might have been “in a far better, stronger position” in the war if Soleimani were still alive.