From chugging bottles of champagne and lounging in designer clothing to partying at luxury Las Vegas resorts, the niece of the late Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani lived a lavish lifestyle in the United States.
But Hamideh Soleimani Afshar, 47, and her daughter Sarinasadat Hosseiny, 25, are now facing deportation after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers detained them on Friday in Los Angeles.
The women have also had their green cards revoked after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused Afshar of celebrating the deaths of American soldiers during President Donald Trump‘s ongoing war with Iran.
The mother and daughter documented their glitzy lives on their now-deleted social media, posting enviable snaps of opulent holidays, expensive cars and stylish parties.
Afshar, who originally entered the US in June 2015 on a tourist visa, would often publish pictures of herself decked out in gold jewelry, dispatching from helicopters in the desert, and relaxing in Louis Vuitton clothes.
Her daughter – who came to the US with her mother on a student visa – appeared in snaps relaxing on a sun lounger by a pool in a black bikini, showing off her tattoos, and posing on a bed in a halter neck party dress, next to a bottle of rosé.
Both enjoy donning outfits deemed illegal in Tehran, where women face arrest, beating, and even rape in custody for disobeying the strict dress code enforced by the Islamic regime which includes the compulsory hijab.
Afshar is the niece of the slain Qasem Soleimani – one of Iran’s most powerful military figures who was the commander of the lethal Quds force and the architect of the regime’s terror activities throughout the Middle East.
Hamideh Soleimani Afshar, pictured, and her daughter have both been arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in LA and had their green cards revoked
Sarinasadat Hosseiny, 25, lounging by a pool in a black bikini
Afshar, 47, wearing a Louis Vuitton hoodie with a gold watch and jewelry
Soleimani was killed by a US Reaper drone strike ordered by President Trump at Baghdad Airport in January 2020.
Before his death, he was seen as the country’s most influential commander, second only to the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei.
After joining the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps in his early 20s, the hardliner eventually became responsible for hundreds of American deaths in Iraq and waves of militia attacks against Israel.
Various photos from his grandniece’s social media show her posing with a fluffy Pomeranian as well as her clubbing in Miami, holidaying in Alaska, and partying down in Las Vegas.
But a press release issued by the State Department following the women’s arrest on Friday accused Afshar, her mother, of ‘promoting Iranian regime propaganda’.
It said she had ‘praised the new Iranian Supreme Leader, denounced America as the “Great Satan” and voiced her unflinching support for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a designated terrorist organisation’.
The mother and daughter were granted asylum by a judge in 2019 and in 2021, they became green card holders.
DHS further stated that in a July 2025 naturalisation application, Afshar disclosed that she had traveled to Iran at least four times since being issued her green card, which made her asylum claims ‘fraudulent’.
Rubio said the State Department had been alerted to Afshar’s antics by her posts about Tehran and the US on her since-deleted Instagram account.
He said the permanent resident status that allowed the women to live indefinitely in the US was revoked and that they will be deported at the first available opportunity.
He wrote: ‘Until recently, Hamideh Soleimani Afshar and her daughter were green card holders living lavishly in the United States.
‘Afshar is the niece of deceased Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani. She is also an outspoken supporter of the Iranian regime who celebrated attacks on Americans and referred to our country as the “Great Satan”.
‘This week, I terminated both Afshar and her daughter’s legal status and they are now in ICE custody, pending removal from the United States.
‘The Trump Administration will not allow our country to become a home for foreign nationals who support anti-American terrorist regimes.’
Afshar’s husband has also been barred from entering the US, the State Department said.
Notably, DHS has not accused Hosseiny of asylum fraud or making statements against the US.
The Daily Mail approached the agency for further comment.
Soleimani was killed by a US Reaper drone strike ordered by President Trump at Baghdad Airport in January 2020
Afshar and her daughter, Hosseiny (pictured), were granted asylum by a judge in 2019 and in 2021, they became green card holders
Afshar is pictured in riding in a blue Hummer. She and her daughter lived in Los Angeles before their arrest
Both women are related to Iranian general Qasem Soleimani (pictured), who was killed by a US drone strike at Baghdad Airport in January 2020
Public records list Afshar as living at a $740,000 home in the Tujunga neighborhood of Los Angeles.
She bought the house for $505,000 in September 2021 with a $365,000 mortgage.
The modest property has two bedrooms and two baths but it smartly decorated inside.
It sits on a hill that affords it a stunning view across the Crescenta Valley and Verdugo Mountains.
In one video posted online, Afshar was filmed speaking in Farsi with the distinctive wall-mounted plate decorations in her living room visible in the background.
Afshar’s anti-American rhetoric stepped up in recent weeks, after President Trump began bombing Iran on February 28.
The country’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was among those killed in the US-Israel bombardment which has triggered international chaos.
Earlier this month, Rubio terminated the legal status of Fatemeh Ardeshir-Larijani, the daughter of veteran Iranian politician Ali Larijani, and her husband Seyed Kalantar Motamedi.
Ardeshir-Larijani and Motamedi are no longer in the United States and are barred from entry, according to the State Department.
Ali Larijani, an architect of Iran’s security policy, was killed in mid-March by a US-Israeli air attack.
In his second term in office, Trump’s administration has stepped up deportation efforts against immigrants, calling them threats.
Rights advocates have raised concerns about free speech and due process. Many immigrants detained by ICE have been released following court orders.
On Sunday, an Iranian foreign ministry official claimed that Afshar and Hosseiny were not related to Soleimani.
In a statement, Narjes Soleimani, the slain military commander’s daughter, said his family had never lived in the US and that he had two nephews, not nieces.
She said: ‘The individuals arrested in the US have no connection whatsoever to Martyr Soleimani and the claims made by the US State Department are false.’
Afshar’s daughter, Hosseiny, was originally let into the country under a student visa in 2015
Afshar, 47, documented her glitzy lifestyle in LA on social media
The niece of the military commander Qassem Soleimani posing by a helicopter
Afshar is pictured wearing a white dress and purple heels
Afshar pictured wearing a leopard print top at a shooting range
Instagram posts show Hosseiny clubbing in Miami, vacationing in Alaska, and partying down in Las Vegas
Afhsar’s home in Tujunga, Los Angeles, is pictured. She bought the property for $505,000 in 2021 and it is now worth $740,000
On Sunday, Trump published an expletive-laden post on Truth Social in which he threatened to destroy the Islamic Republic’s power plants and bridges if it failed to meet his Tuesday deadline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to all shipping.
‘Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran,’ the US President wrote.
‘There will be nothing like it!!! Open the F***in’ Strait, you crazy b*****ds, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah. President DONALD J. TRUMP.’
‘If they don’t come through, if they want to keep it closed, they’re going to lose every power plant and every other plant they have in the whole country,’ he told the Wall Street Journal.
‘If they don’t do something by Tuesday evening, they won’t have any power plant and they won’t have any bridges standing,’ Trump then vowed.
Trump was then asked if he was concerned whether Iran’s 93 million citizens would suffer if the power plants and bridges were struck.
‘No, they want us to do it,’ Trump argued, adding that Iranians were ‘living in hell’.