ICE detains relatives of 1979 Iran hostage crisis figure after Rubio revokes their legal status

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he revoked the lawful permanent resident status of family members linked to Masoumeh Ebtekar, a spokeswoman for the Islamic terrorists who stormed the U.S. Embassy during the 1979 hostage crisis.

Rubio said the individuals were placed in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody pending removal from the United States. 

He said the Obama administration granted visas to Ebtekar’s son and his family in 2014 and later approved green cards for them through the Diversity Visa Program in 2016.

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“Masoumeh Ebtekar —  also known as ‘Screaming Mary’ —  was the spokeswoman for the Islamic terrorists who stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979 and held 52 Americans hostages for 444 days — subjecting them to beatings, starvation, and mock executions,” Rubio wrote on X.

Rubio said her family should never have been allowed to benefit from the extraordinary privilege of living in the United States.

“America can never become home for anti-American terrorists or their families — and under the Trump administration, it never will,” Rubio said.

Ebtekar also served in a formal role as vice president of Women and Family Affairs in Iran between 2017 and 2021. PBS’ “Frontline” dubbed her “one of the highest-ranking women in the Muslim world” during an interview with the Muslim leader in 2002. 

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Fox News Digital this week obtained photos of Ebtekar’s son, Seyed Eissa Hashemi, at what the New York Post described as a “fancy” gym in Los Angeles, where he reportedly brushed off a reporter’s questions.

According to the New York Post, people have been protesting against Hashemi living in the United States for months. There are several petitions on Change.org calling on him to be investigated and deported, some of which have been put under review by the petition website, according to a Fox News Digital review.

The Post added that records show Hashemi lives in Agoura Hills, Los Angeles County, with his wife and fellow psychology professor Maryam Tahmasebi.

The move follows similar action against relatives of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, who were also taken into custody in recent days.

Fox News’ Alec Schemmel contributed to this report.