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Two family members of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, who was assassinated in 2020, have been arrested in the United States after their residency permits were rescinded, the State Department said on Saturday.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast night, the niece and grandniece of deceased Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Major General Qassem Soleimani were arrested by federal agents following Secretary of State Marco Rubio\u2019s termination of their lawful permanent resident (LPR) status,\u201d a department statement<\/a> said.<\/p>\n It identified the niece as Hamideh Soleimani Afshar. Her daughter was not named.<\/p>\n Both \u201care now in the custody of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE),\u201d the statement said, without specifying their whereabouts.<\/p>\n \n <\/a>\n <\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n Soleimani, who led the IRGC\u2019s foreign operations arm, was assassinated <\/a>in a US drone strike while he was in the Iraqi capital Baghdad in January 2020 \u2014 the final year of President Donald Trump\u2019s first term in the White House.<\/p>\n \u201cAs identified by both press reporting and her own social media commentary, Soleimani Afshar is an outspoken supporter of the totalitarian, terrorist regime in Iran,\u201d the US State Department said.<\/p>\n Soleimani Afshar\u2019s husband has also been barred from entering the United States, the statement said.<\/p>\n The daughter and son-in-law of another assassinated Iranian official, security chief Ali Larijani, have also had their legal status terminated.<\/p>\n Both \u201care no longer in the United States and are barred from future entry,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n Larijani, secretary of Iran\u2019s Supreme National Security Council, was assassinated<\/a> on March 17 in an Israeli strike.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Trump administration will not allow our country to become a home for foreign nationals who support anti-American terrorist regimes,\u201d Rubio said in a post on X.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n