Feds: ICE arrested 11 Iranians in the U.S. as Middle East tensions flared
The people arrested included a former Iranian army sniper and man sentenced to 10 years in prison for a drug conviction. Some say the arrests are political.
Federal agents arrested 11 Iranians living in the U.S. over the past few days, Department of Homeland Security officials announced on Tuesday.
Almost all the arrests were made on Sunday after U.S. military planes bombed key Iranian nuclear sites. President Donald Trump has said he ordered the strikes to put a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the "world's number one state sponsor of terror."
The arrests also come as some Americans fear violence in the U.S. amid the conflict with Iran. Mayors from New York City to Los Angeles have said that they are watching for any threats to public safety.
Among the people arrested, officials said, were: Mehran Makari Saheli, a 56-year-old convicted of illegal firearm possession and former member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps; Ribvar Karimi, a former Iranian army sniper who failed to adjust his immigration status; and Yousef Mehridehno, who was labeled by Homeland Security as a “suspected terrorist” who lied on a visa application. Karimi had an Islamic Republic of Iran Army identification card in his possession when he was arrested, federal officials said.
“We have been saying we are getting the worst of the worst out—and we are,” said Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. “We don’t wait until a military operation to execute; we proactively deliver on President Trump’s mandate to secure the homeland.”
The arrests happened all around the country. ICE Buffalo arrested on Monday a 65-year-old who was convicted of “criminal impersonation and practicing as an attorney,” federal officials said. ICE San Francisco arrested on Sunday a 62-year-old who was previously sentenced to 10 years in prison for a drug conviction, according to officials.
An Iranian American group slammed the apparent crackdown in light of the war, saying the White House had “weaponized” immigration authorities to go after political enemies.
“We are deeply concerned that the Department of Homeland Security will respond to geopolitical tensions abroad with racial profiling and efforts to undermine the civil liberties of individuals of Iranian heritage in the United States,” said Ryan Costello, policy director for the National Iranian American Council, a Washington, D.C.-based organization that advocates for improving American relations with Iran. “That is wrong and un-American. It's threats and legitimate intelligence that need to drive these kind of enforcement actions, not security theater."
It’s fairly rare for Iranians living in the U.S. to run afoul of immigration authorities, data shows. Of nearly 113,500 people arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities in fiscal year 2024, 68 were from Iran. 47 of the people arrested then had criminal convictions; the rest had immigration violations, according to federal data.
The number of Iranians arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in recent days amounts to 16% of the total number of Iranian nationals arrested in all of fiscal year 2024, according to federal data.