The Trump administration is rounding up family members of notable Iranian government figures, accusing them of spreading 'pro-Tehran propaganda'. And apparently this is even if the Iranian officials in question are deceased.
The State Department confirmed an unexpected development on Saturday, announcing that the niece of the late Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani is being booted from the country.
Hamideh Soleimani Afshar and her daughter were arrested Friday night, and their permanent residence status has been revoked - now in the custody of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Maj. Gen. Soleimani was the former leader of the elite Quds force wing of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) who was assassinated via drone strike as his convoy drove outside of Baghdad International Airport in 2020.
This was during the first Trump administration, and in many ways this brazen killing of someone many countries viewed as essentially a 'diplomat' (certainly Iraq and Russia did) set Tehran and Washington on a collision course. Washington long considered him a terrorist. His popularity inside Iran was immense.
According to more details of the arrest of Soleiman's niece and her daughter:
The State Department did not say where they were arrested. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a post on X that Soleimani Afshar and her daughter lived "lavishly" in the U.S. and are now in ICE custody “pending removal” from the U.S.
The State Department described Soleimani Afshar as “an outspoken supporter of the totalitarian, terrorist regime in Iran.” Her husband is also now not permitted to enter the U.S., the State Department said. Her uncle Maj. Gen. Soleimani, the former leader of the foreign wing of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was killed in a U.S. airstrike in 2020.
Apparently her social media accounts have already been scrubbed and/or deleted, and there are reports saying that she did modeling and/or fashion design in the United States.
Niece of Qasem Soleimani, former commander of the IRGC Quds Force who has now been arrested in the United States is identified as Hamideh Soleimani Afshar. Her daughter has also been arrested by the FBI. Hamideh Soleimani Afshar was a Model in the United States. https://t.co/uiwTiiWTwX pic.twitter.com/5jrfrKn3Qa
— Niloofar Mansoori نیلوفر منصوری (@NiloofarMM) April 4, 2026
It's not entirely clear what exactly she posted that caught the attention of US authorities. She may have merely critiqued the US-Israeli bombing of her homeland - but some X accounts have accused her of positively praising Iranian leadership while opposing the anti-government and economic protests from last January. Laura Loomer is claiming credit for alerting the Trump administration, or playing some kind of role in Hamidea's apprehension and pending expulsion.
According to more from the WSJ, "Rubio also ended legal status protections for Fatemeh Ardeshir-Larijani, the daughter of the late Ali Larijani, Iran’s former top national-security official, and her husband, the State Department said. The department said they are no longer in the U.S. and not permitted to enter in the future."
This means that likely other permanent residence holders who have family ties to the Islamic Republic leadership are being scrutinized by US federal authorities.
There could be a lot of Instagram, X, and Facebook scrubbing happening among the Iranian diaspora at this point.
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