The US Department of State announced on Saturday that three Iranian nationals were arrested following the termination of their lawful permanent resident status by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
According to the statement, Seyed Eissa Hashemi, Maryam Tahmasebi, and their son are currently in the custody of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement pending removal proceedings.
The State Department said that Hashemi is the son of Masoumeh Ebtekar, who served as a spokeswoman for the Islamist militants who seized the US Embassy in Tehran in 1979 and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days.
Ebtekar, also referred to in Western media by several nicknames, acted as a central figure in presenting the hostage-takers’ narrative to the international press. The statement described her as responsible for disseminating propaganda portraying favorable conditions for the hostages while they were subjected to harsh treatment, including isolation and psychological abuse.
Following the events of the hostage crisis, Ebtekar went on to hold senior positions within Iran’s government, including serving as a vice president between 2017 and 2021.
The State Department noted that Hashemi, Tahmasebi, and their son entered the United States in 2014 on visas issued during the Obama administration. In June 2016, they were granted lawful permanent resident status through the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program.
The announcement follows additional actions taken in recent days. Secretary Rubio terminated the legal status of Hamideh Afshar Soleimani and her daughter, relatives of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Major General Qasem Soleimani. Both are now in ICE custody.
Rubio also revoked the legal status of Fatemeh Ardeshir-Larijani, daughter of former Iranian official Ali Larijani, and her husband Seyed Kalantar Motamedi. The two individuals are no longer in the United States and have been barred from reentry.
The State Department expressed appreciation to the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement for their cooperation.
The statement concluded that the Trump administration will not permit the United States to serve as a haven for individuals connected to regimes deemed hostile to the country.