The Trump administration said Tuesday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents had arrested 11 Iranian citizens over the weekend who were in the U.S. illegally.
Among those arrested was a man ordered for removal from the United States 20 years ago, and others accused of breaking immigration laws.
Federal agents also arrested a U.S. citizen for allegedly threatening to kill ICE agents, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said.
The specific announcement about Iranian nationals allegedly in the U.S. illegally comes amid heightened fears of potential terror cells within the country which could be activated following President Donald Trump’s ordered strike on Iranian nuclear facilities last weekend.
NBC News reported Iran had sent a message to Trump before the strikes in which the regime threatened to activate sleeper-cell terror networks in the U.S. in retaliation for any anticipated U.S. military action.
In its announcement Tuesday morning, DHS said the ICE arrests reflected the department’s commitment to keeping known and suspected terrorists out of the U.S.
Out of the 11 people arrested, ICE outlined two potential terror ties, including one Iranian national with alleged connections to Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based group which the U.S. considers a terrorist organization.
That man is Mehran Makari Saheli, 56, who was arrested in St. Paul, Minnesota, on June 22. ICE said he was a convicted felon who was found guilty of being in possession of a firearm in Minneapolis, where he served 15 months in prison.
A former member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), ICE said Saheli had admitted to having ties to Hezbollah. An immigration judge ordered him removable in June 2022, but he had remained in the U.S.
A former green card holder, Yousef Mehridehno, was detained in Mississippi. ICE said he was listed as a known or suspected terrorist earlier this year. His permanent resident status had been revoked in October 2017.
Others arrested included Ribvar Karimi in Locust, Alabama. ICE said he served as an Iranian Army sniper from 2018 through 2021, before heading to the U.S. on a K-1 fiancé visa in October 2024. He did not adjust his status as required, and was therefore removable from the U.S.
In Houston, ICE arrested Behzad Sepehrian Bahary Nejad on June 22. He has a final order of removal, issued in 2019, and was carrying a loaded 9mm pistol when agents picked him up, according to DHS. Nejab was arrested for allegedly assaulting a family member in August 2017, with his wife telling a local assistant district attorney that he had been threatening her.
ICE arrested another Iranian national in Houston named Hamid Reza Bayat. He was ordered to be removed in August 2005.
On the edge of Phoenix, Arizona, Mehrzad Asadi Eidivand was detained by federal agents. He also had a final order of removal, having been convicted of threatening a law enforcement officer and being an immigrant in possession of a firearm. He had been granted voluntary departure in 2013 but never left, DHS said.
In Colorado Springs, agents detained two Iranian nationals living together, both in the U.S. illegally. Mahmoud Shafiei was first encountered in the U.S. in 1981 and ordered removed six years later. Mehrdad Mehdipour entered the U.S. in June 2023, and had been ordered removed also.
Agents in San Francisco arrested Bahman Alizadeh Asfestani, 62, who had criminal convictions dating back to the 1990s. In San Diego, Arkavan Babk Moirokorli, 57, was also arrested.
Mohammad Rafikian, 65, had been convicted of grand larceny, schemes to defraud, criminal impersonation and practicing as an attorney. He was detained in Buffalo.
US Citizen Threatened ICE
Also arrested in the round up was Linet Vartaniann, a U.S. citizen. She allegedly threatened a law enforcement officer and harbored Eidivand in Phoenix.
When ICE arrived at her home in Tempe, a suburb of the Arizona city, on Sunday, she allegedly said she would go outside and shoot ICE officers in the head.
She is now facing federal charges, DHS said.
What People Are Saying
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, in a press release: “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. We have been saying we are getting the worst of the worst out—and we are. We don’t wait until a military operation to execute; we proactively deliver on President Trump’s mandate to secure the homeland.”
California Republican Representative Jack Kimble, on X June 22: “Some people are worried there may be Iranian sleeper cells in this country. Don’t be. ICE is on the job and if they try to go to an immigration hearing, they will be nabbed.”
DHS said all of those detained were in ICE custody, pending removal proceedings and/or deportation.
