US revokes more green cards tied to Iran

The U.S. Department of State announced on Saturday that three Iranian nationals with ties to the Iranian government were arrested by federal agents following Secretary of State Marco Rubio's termination of their lawful permanent resident statuses, reported Xinhua.

Seyed Eissa Hashemi, Maryam Tahmasebi, and their son are now in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement pending their removal from the United States, said a statement on the Department of State official website.

According to the statement, Eissa Hashemi is the son of Masoumeh Ebtekar, spokeswoman for the Islamist militants who stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979 and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. Ebtekar served as a vice president of Iran between 2017 and 2021.

According to the statement, Hashemi, Tahmasebi, and their son entered the United States in 2014 on visas issued by the Obama administration.

Last week, Rubio terminated the legal status of the niece and grandniece of late Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Major General Qasem Soleimani. Hamideh Afshar Soleimani and her daughter are now in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Rubio also terminated the legal status of Fatemeh Ardeshir-Larijani, daughter of former Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran Ali Larijani, and her husband Seyed Kalantar Motamedi. Both Ardeshir-Larijani and Motamedi are no longer in the United States and are barred from future entry, the statement said.