Iranian academic writes of US detention 'hell' over link to 1979 hostage crisis

Sincity Press Staff 3 hours ago 3 min read 4
Sincity Press Brief

The immigration status of Maryam Tahmasebi was revoked because her husband is the son of a prominent figure in Iran.

The US determination to revoke the family's presumption came amid respective enforcement actions taken against relatives of authorities officials, arsenic US hostilities with Iran escalated this year.

At the aforesaid time, amid Iran's brutal crackdown connected protesters months ago, immoderate diaspora activists identified relatives of Iranian officials overseas and campaigned to revoke their ineligible status.

An online petition successful January 2026 called for Hashemi's deportation from the US owed to his mother's engagement successful the hostage crisis. A fewer blimpish US outlets carried reports from extracurricular Hashemi's residence successful the US successful April.

Less than a week later, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the US would revoke the family's status.

Rubio's announcement did not specify whether Hashemi oregon Tahmasebi had committed wrongdoing oregon posed a nationalist information menace themselves.

The bureau "does not divulge protected, sensitive, oregon classified accusation pertaining to the termination of ineligible presumption of overseas nationals", authorities section spokesperson Tommy Pigott said successful a statement.

He said the authorities retained the close to terminate the ineligible presumption of overseas nationals who "pose a menace to the nationalist information interests of the US".

Maria Kari, a subordinate of Tahmasebi-Hashemi's ineligible team, told the BBC that the authorities section "has not charged this household nether immoderate nationalist information proviso of the migration laws".

"If the authorities had immoderate grounds that this household threatened nationalist security, it has had respective opportunities to accidental truthful but the authorities has not," Kari said. "In fact, nary US authorities bureau has presented immoderate grounds to enactment their allegations."

Prior to their arrest, Tahmasebi and Hashemi lived successful Los Angeles and worked successful academia. They entered the US legally successful 2014 connected visas, and became lawful imperishable residents successful 2016.

A national justice temporarily blocked their deportation aft lawyers challenged the family's detention and filed for their release.

In her effort for The Nation, Tahmasebi wrote that her household had attempted to self-deport - which means making a voluntary determination to permission a state - but added that the US authorities opposed their request.

"In different words, they privation to proceed our indefinite detention without immoderate extremity successful sight," she wrote.

The US Department of Homeland Security declined the family's petition for voluntary departure successful July, according to records provided by Tahmasebi's lawyers.

A authorities lawyer wrote that DHS would see what is known arsenic a stipulated removal, successful which a noncitizen waives their close to a proceeding earlier entering into deportation proceedings.

A DHS spokesperson, erstwhile asked to remark connected the family's request, pointed the BBC to its app-based voluntary departure programme arsenic a means for non-citizens to permission the country.

"Being successful detention is simply a choice," the DHS connection said. "We promote each amerciable aliens to instrumentality power of their departure with the CBP Home App."

The US authorities has besides terminated the ineligible presumption of 2 Iranian women it initially identified arsenic the niece and grandniece of IRGC Major General Qasem Soleimani, who was killed successful a US onslaught successful 2020.

Soleimani's household aboriginal denied that the women were related to him, and consequent reporting has formed uncertainty connected the US government's claim.

The authorities section besides revoked presumption for girl of erstwhile Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran Ali Larijani.

Roja Assadi contributed to this report.