Marco Rubio Revokes Green Cards of Wrong Iranian Exiles in Soleimani Case

On April 4, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the revocation of green cards for two Iranian women, Hamideh Soleimani Afshar and her daughter Sarinasadat Hosseiny, alleging they were relatives of the late Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani. Rubio claimed they promoted "propaganda for Iran's terrorist regime" while living in Los Angeles, and that they were in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody.

The announcement followed sensationalized media coverage, including a New York Post cover story highlighting the alleged grand-niece's "sex appeal" with bikini photos. However, documents obtained by Drop Site prove the claim was false: Soleimani Afshar and Hosseiny are not related to Soleimani.

Soleimani Afshar's father was an only child, and her parents died before Soleimani was born in a different region of Iran. In fact, Soleimani Afshar was previously jailed for protesting the Iranian government. She fled Iran with her teenage daughter after Hosseiny appeared in a dance competition on a banned TV channel.

Family friend and U.S. military veteran Shawna Ruhland, who is running a GoFundMe for the pair, described their dire situation: Soleimani Afshar has a rare blood disorder, and Hosseiny is "basically just trapped in [ICE detention] watching her mom die."

The State Department refused to comment on the classified intelligence behind the decision. That intelligence may have originated from conservative activist Laura Loomer, who posted on social media last month claiming "Qasem Soleimani's Neice [sic]" lived in Los Angeles. Loomer later took credit for reporting Soleimani Afshar to the State Department.

Loomer shared "exclusive" screenshots of alleged Iranian propaganda from Soleimani Afshar's Instagram, including a fake news story about U.S. troops captured in Iran, a video about Soleimani's rise from an AI-generated history page, and a photo of missiles with a Persian joke about apologizing while beating someone up. When confronted by Drop Site about Soleimani Afshar's true identity, Loomer stated, "I want all Islamic immigrants deported."

Loomer has also taken credit for influencing U.S. border officials to detain British journalist Sami Hamdi and for Rubio banning Palestinian children from seeking medical treatment in American hospitals.

Like Loomer, the Trump administration has shown little regard for Iranians fleeing persecution, despite using such persecution to justify its policies toward Iran. Before the 2020 Soleimani strike, ICE deported several planeloads of Iranians, including Christian converts and openly gay individuals. In January 2026, after an Iranian government crackdown killed thousands of protesters, ICE deported 14 people directly to Iran, claiming they were pursuing "terrorists, human smugglers and suspected foreign agents."

While some relatives of Iranian officials did live in the U.S., such as Fatemeh Ardeshir-Larijani, daughter of former Iranian National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani, and Seyed Eissa Hashemi, the case of Soleimani Afshar and Hosseiny highlights the consequences of flawed intelligence and political targeting.