From chugging bottles of champagne and lounging in designer clothing to partying at luxury Las Vegas resorts, the niece of the late Iranian military commander ​Qassem Soleimani lived a lavish lifestyle in the United States.

But Hamideh Soleimani Afshar, 47, and her daughter Sarinasadat Hosseiny, 25, are now facing deportation after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers detained them on Friday in Los Angeles. 

The women have also had their green cards revoked after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused Afshar of celebrating the deaths of American soldiers during President Donald Trump’s ongoing war with Iran.

The mother and daughter documented their glitzy lives on their now-deleted social media, posting enviable snaps of opulent holidays, expensive cars and stylish parties.

Afshar, who originally entered the US in June 2015 on a tourist visa, would often publish pictures of herself decked out in gold jewellery, dispatching from helicopters in the desert and relaxing in Louis Vuitton clothes.

Her daughter – who came to the US with her mother on a student visa – appeared in snaps relaxing on a sun lounger by a pool in a black bikini, showing off her tattoos, and posing on a bed in a halter neck party dress, next to a bottle of rosé.

Both enjoy donning outfits deemed illegal in Tehran, where women face arrest, beating and even rape in custody for disobeying the strict dress code enforced by the Islamic regime which includes the compulsory hijab.

Afshar is the niece of the slain Qasem Soleimani – one of Iran’s most powerful military figures who was the commander of the lethal Quds force and the architect of the regime’s terror activities throughout the Middle East.

Soleimani was killed by a US Reaper drone strike ordered by President Trump at Baghdad Airport in January 2020.

Before his death, he was seen as the country’s most influential commander, second only to the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei.

After joining the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps in his early 20s, the hardliner eventually became responsible for hundreds of American deaths in Iraq and waves of militia attacks against Israel. 

Various photos from his grandniece’s social media show her posing with a fluffy Pomeranian as well as her clubbing in Miami, holidaying in Alaska, and partying down in Las Vegas.

But a press release issued by the State Department following the women’s arrest on Friday accused Afshar, her mother, of “promoting Iranian regime propaganda”.

It said she had “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 terrorist organisation”.

The mother and daughter were granted asylum by a judge in 2019; in 2021, Afshar was granted her green card, followed by her daughter in 2023, both under the Biden administration.

Afshar “pushed regime propaganda while enjoying a lavish lifestyle in Los Angeles, as attested to by her frequent posting on her recently deleted Instagram account”, the statement said. 

DHS further claimed that in a July 2025 naturalisation application, Afshar disclosed that she had travelled to Iran at least four times since being issued her green card, which made her asylum claims “fraudulent”.

Rubio said the State Department had been alerted to Afshar’s antics by her posts about Tehran and the US on her since-deleted Instagram account. 

He said the permanent resident status that allowed the women to live indefinitely in the US was revoked and that they will be deported at the first available opportunity.