US To Deport 1979 Iran Hostage Crisis Spokesperson's Son, His Family

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has terminated the lawful permanent resident status of three Iranian nationals with alleged ties to figures associated with Iran's revolutionary regime, leading to their arrest and detention pending removal, the State Department said.

Seyed Eissa Hashemi, Maryam Tahmasebi, and their son were taken into custody by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement after their legal status was revoked. Authorities said they are now awaiting deportation proceedings.

Hashemi is the son of Masoumeh Ebtekar, a controversial figure linked to the 1979 takeover of the US Embassy in Tehran. Ebtekar served as a spokeswoman for the militants involved in the hostage crisis, during which 52 Americans were held for 444 days.

According to the statement, Ebtekar acted as a “leading propagandist” for the hostage-takers, arranging staged media interactions and portraying what officials described as a misleading image of the hostages' treatment. The department said hostages were subjected to “solitary confinement, blindfolded and starved, and subjected to physical and psychological terror, including beatings and mock executions.”

Ebtekar later rose within Iran's political system, holding senior government roles, including serving as a vice president between 2017 and 2021.

The three detainees entered the United States in 2014 on visas issued during the administration of former President Barack Obama. In June 2016, they were granted lawful permanent residency through the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program. The programme has since been suspended under the current administration.

Last week, Rubio also revoked the legal status of relatives of Qasem Soleimani, a senior Iranian military commander killed in a US strike in 2020. Hamideh Afshar Soleimani and her daughter are now in ICE custody.

The State Department also terminated the status of Fatemeh Ardeshir-Larijani, daughter of Ali Larijani, a former senior Iranian official, and her husband Seyed Kalantar Motamedi. Both individuals have already left the United States and are barred from re-entry.

The department said it worked closely with the Department of Homeland Security and immigration enforcement agencies in carrying out the actions. It added that the administration “will never allow America to become a home for foreign nationals tied to anti-American terrorist regimes.”

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