# State Department revokes residency status of Soleimani relatives
The event date is 2026-04-04.
The State Department says it has terminated the lawful permanent resident status of the niece and grandniece of Qassem Soleimani, the Iranian commander killed in a US drone strike in 2020, and that both women were arrested by federal agents.
According to AFP via *Dawn*, the niece, identified as Hamideh Soleimani Afshar, and her daughter were taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement after Secretary of State Marco Rubio ended their residency status. The report says the department described Soleimani Afshar as an outspoken supporter of Iran's government.
The announcement fits a broader pattern of punitive action described in the source. The State Department also said the husband of Soleimani Afshar has been barred from entering the United States, and that the daughter and son-in-law of another assassinated Iranian official, Ali Larijani, had their legal status terminated as well.
The move is notable because it uses immigration status as a foreign-policy tool in a conflict already defined by military escalation and sanctions pressure. By revoking residency and blocking entry, the administration is making clear that family connections to senior Iranian figures can become a basis for action when the State Department sees political support for Tehran.
The source does not give a full legal explanation for each decision, but it does quote Rubio saying the Trump administration will not allow the United States to become a home for foreign nationals who support what he called anti-American terrorist regimes.
That is the public rationale provided in the packet. The underlying facts are narrower: residency status was terminated, arrests followed, and other relatives of Iranian officials also lost their status or were barred from future entry.
The timing matters because the announcement lands in the middle of a wider confrontation between the United States and Iran. It suggests that the conflict is not only being fought with air strikes and military operations, but also through immigration enforcement and diplomatic restrictions.
The record in the packet is limited to the State Department statement and reporting around it, so the article should be read as a straightforward account of the government's action rather than a legal analysis of whether the removals will be challenged.
What is established is simple enough: two relatives of Qassem Soleimani were detained after their status was revoked, other Iranian-linked relatives were also targeted, and Rubio made the policy rationale public.
