US Revokes Green Cards From Assassinated Iranian General Soleimani's Nieces

The US has arrested and revoked the permanent residency status of two relatives of late Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, according to the State Department.

The Details: On Saturday, the department said Soleimani's niece, Hamideh Soleimani Afshar, and her daughter were being held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as the US sought their deportation. The department said Soleimani Afshar "promoted Iranian regime propaganda, celebrated attacks against American soldiers and military facilities in the Middle East, praised the new Iranian Supreme Leader" while living in the US. Afshar's husband has also been banned from entering the US.

Visa Status: Soleimani Afshar came to the US on a tourist visa in 2015, was granted asylum in 2019, and permanent residency in 2021. Her 25-year-old daughter, Sarinasadat Hosseiny, arrived in 2021 on a student visa and received permanent residency in 2023.

For Context: In January, reports surfaced that Emory University professor and cancer researcher Fatemeh Ardeshir-Larijani was the daughter of the since-assassinated Iranian Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Ali Larijani. The State Department said on Saturday it has removed the legal status of Ardeshir-Larijani and her husband and banned them from re-entering the US. General Soleimani was assassinated by the US in 2019.

How The Media Covered It: The news was widely discussed on X on April 5. Several major outlets covered the story, though it was not the most widely covered by mainstream media. The New York Post (Lean Right bias) ran two pieces of coverage focused on Hamideh. In its primary coverage, it framed her as a "glitzy LA-based" social media girl who spread "propaganda" in "vulgar" posts. In an exclusive report, it detailed her "sinister past" according to her ex-boyfriend, who called her a "crazed stalker." It also ran a feature focused on Hosseiny, in which it sexualized her by describing, in detail, pictures she posted on Instagram and highlighted her "lavish lifestyle," which included significant travel across the US. The Daily Mail (Lean Right) and The Times of Israel (Center) ran similar angles highlighting her upper-class lifestyle. 

Qatari-based outlet Al Jazeera (Lean Left) prominently wrote, "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." It also included a section on public pressure within the US to remove relatives of Iranian officials and highlighted comments from a few prominent pro-Zionist conservatives on the matter.

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