Foreign Affairs

‘She Scares Me’: Ex-Love Of Soleimani’s Niece Refused Her Frantic Call From ICE Detention, Claiming Years Of Abuse

U.S. Immigrations And Customs Enforcement/Creative Commons/Flickr

The niece of a notorious Iranian general who assisted in attacks that killed American troops reportedly made a desperate phone call to a former lover in an effort to escape detention after her arrest.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Saturday that the niece of the late Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Qasem Soleimani and her daughter had their green cards revoked and were held by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Hamideh Soleimani Afshar reportedly called 68-year-old Maziar Aflaki, a former paramour, after ICE detained her, the New York Post reported.

“She scares me. I was so afraid of her. She knows how to make herself seem like an angel and you feel like the devil. I wanted someone to take her away – now it’s happened,” Aflaki told the Post.

Sarinasadat Hosseiny, 25, enjoyed a lavish life in the USA where she was free to drink alcohol and dress as she wished.

Her mother, Hamideh Soleimani Afshar, used America’s freedom of speech to promote the Islamic Republic of Iran.

These relatives of General Qasem Soleimani… pic.twitter.com/M2KPvWHzTh

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) April 5, 2026

The 47-year-old Afshar, whose husband Hasan Hosseiny lives in Iran, received asylum in 2019 but reported four trips to Iran in a 2025 application for citizenship, according to the Post. She and her daughter, Sarinasadat Hosseiny, 25, were taken into custody Friday, the State Department said in a release.

“While living in the United States, she promoted Iranian regime propaganda, celebrated attacks against American soldiers and military facilities in the Middle East, 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 terror organization,” the State Department said about Afshar in the statement.

Soleimani, a crucial figure in providing advanced components for improvised explosive devices used against American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, was killed in a January 2020 strike by the first Trump administration.

“She takes advantage of every man she knows,” Aflaki told the New York Post. “She was saying ‘I love you’ but I was so afraid. She said I reminded her of her dad. All these years I was suffering. I wanted to have my life back.”

“She’s very dangerous – a professional troublemaker,” Aflaki added.

A second man, 54-year-old hairdresser Zare Mandani, told the Post that a court granted him a five-year restraining order against Afshar, who he said stalked him at his home and salon.

In Iran, the penalty for sexual relations outside of marriage can involve death by stoning, according to Iran’s criminal code, which is based on sharia law.

(Featured Image Media Credit: U.S. Immigrations And Customs Enforcement/Creative Commons/Flickr)