State Dept revokes 3 more green cards of Iranian nationals tied to regime

Three Iranian nationals with ties to the country’s Islamic regime have been arrested in California.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio revoked the green cards of Seyed Eissa Hashemi, Maryam Tahmasebi, and their son. ICE agents arrested them this week for removal proceedings, and the agency cited their connections to a figure linked to the Iran hostage crisis.

According to the State Department, Hashemi is the son of Masoumeh Ebtekar, also known as “Screaming Mary,” who served as a spokeswoman for the Islamist militants who held 52 Americans hostage at the US embassy in Tehran in 1979. Ebtekar was known for her role as the “leading propagandist” for the Islamist who perpetrated the hostage crisis. She married a fellow hostage taker and went on to rise to senior roles in the Iranian regime, including serving as a vice president from 2017 to 2021.

According to a report by The New York Post, Hashemi was living lavishly in Los Angeles.

“Hashemi, Tahmasebi, and their son entered the United States in 2014 on visas issued by the Obama Administration. In June 2016 – just months after the IRGC seized two U.S. Navy vessels and captured 10 American sailors – the Obama Administration granted all three Iranian nationals lawful permanent resident (LPR) status via the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program. The issuance of new diversity visas has been suspended by the Trump administration,” the State Department said.

Last week, Rubio also terminated the legal status of relatives connected to deceased Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Major General Qasem Soleimani. He additionally 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.

“The U.S. Department of State extends its appreciation to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for their continued partnership and collaboration in keeping Americans safe,” the State Department said. “The Trump administration will never allow America to become a home for foreign nationals tied to anti-American terrorist regimes.”