Amid the fallout of U.S. airstrikes at several Iranian nuclear facilities, the Trump administration arrested a reported “Iranian Army sniper” living unlawfully in the country.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested 11 Iranian illegal migrants over the past weekend, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Among those arrested in the nationwide sweep included Ribvar Karimi, who reportedly served as an Iranian Army sniper for roughly four years and was allegedly carrying an Islamic Republic of Iran Army identification card at the time of his arrest Sunday.
“Under Secretary Noem, DHS has been full throttle on identifying and arresting known or suspected terrorists and violent extremists that illegally entered this country, came in through Biden’s fraudulent parole programs or otherwise,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said Tuesday in a prepared statement.
“We have been saying we are getting the worst of the worst out — and we are,” McLaughlin continued. “We don’t wait until a military operation to execute; we proactively deliver on President Trump’s mandate to secure the homeland.”
Karimi entered the U.S. on a K-1 visa — which is reserved for migrants engaged to American citizens — under the Biden administration in October 2024, according to DHS. However, he allegedly never followed through on the legal requirement to adjust his immigration status, making him removable. He remains in ICE custody pending his deportation proceedings.
The other Iranian illegal migrants nabbed by ICE agents over the weekend also carry worrisome backgrounds.
Deportation officers in St. Paul, Minnesota, arrested Mehran Makari Saheli, a 56-year-old Iranian man previously convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm who remained in the U.S. in defiance of a June 2022 removal order, according to DHS. Saheli is also a former member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps with admitted connections to Hezbollah, a U.S. designated terrorist organization.
The capture of Iranian nationals with alleged extremist ties prompted congressional leadership to call for more action on security funding.
“The arrest of an Iranian national with admitted ties to Hezbollah in my home state of Minnesota underscores the urgency of passing President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, which helps ICE officials get these dangerous illegal aliens off our streets,” House Majority Whip Tom Emmer said Tuesday to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“We don’t have a moment to waste — the safety of our communities depends on it,” Emmer continued.
Yousef Mehridehno was apprehended by ICE agents in Gluckstadt, Mississippi, according to the administration. Formerly a permanent resident, immigration officials terminated his status in October 2017 after determining he lied on his visa application, and in February he was listed as a known or suspected terrorist.
ICE also arrested Mehrzad Asadi Eidivand, an Iranian national who never followed through on his voluntary departure order, and convicted of being an alien in possession of a firearm and threatening a law enforcement officer. At the same time and place of that arrest, ICE agents also took custody of Linet Vartaniann, a U.S. citizen, for allegedly harboring Eidivand and threatening to open fire on law enforcement officers. She allegedly said she would go outside and “shoot ICE officers in the head.”
The agency additionally apprehended Iranian illegal migrants convicted of various drug and assault crimes, child abuse, grand larceny and others who had been ordered to removed from the U.S. years ago, according to the administration.
The slate of arrests follow a coordinated aerial assault Saturday night on three of Iran’s top nuclear facilities. Dubbed Operation Midnight Hammer, the military strikes were meant to neutralize the possibility of the country obtaining nuclear weapon capabilities.
“The war-mongering and lawless administration in Washington is solely and fully responsible for the dangerous consequences and far-reaching implications of its act of aggression,” Iran Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said during a press conference in Istanbul. The Iranian leader added that his government “reserves all options to defend its security interests and people.”
Iran only offered a limited military response, launching a barrage of missiles Monday at a U.S. military air base in Qatar only after publicly warning that they would do so. President Donald Trump Sunday announced a ceasefire between Iran and Israel, effectively ending military hostilities that had been taking place between the two countries for days.
Since the U.S. airstrikes, DHS has warned of a “heightened threat environment in the United States.” While not citing any specific threats, the administration deemed “low-level cyber attacks” by pro-Iranian hacktivists to be likely.
Following Trump’s re-election victory in November, federal prosecutors charged three individuals for their alleged involvement in an Iran-linked plot to assassinate him and other enemies of Tehran, according to a Justice Department indictment at the time. U.S. intelligence previously found that Iran plotted to take Trump’s life out of retribution for his killing of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani.
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