Arrests of several L.A. Iranian families sow confusion in a polarized community

Sarina Hosseiny said she had never heard of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani, who was assassinated by the United States in 2020.

Until threatening comments emerged on social media this year claiming that she and her mother were relatives of Soleimani and terrorists who should be deported.

The 25-year-old, who studied fashion at Los Angeles Trade Technical College, is currently sitting in an immigration detention facility in Texas with her 47-year-old mother. And other LA Iranian Americans helped place him there.

“They were sending me death threats. They were literally saying they were going to find me, kill me, my mom and all that,” Hosseiny said in a phone interview from the facility last week. “The only thing I’ve ever shared is that I’m against war and only innocent people dying.”

In recent weeks, as the war in Iran continued, the U.S. State Department detained five Los Angeles-area Iranian citizens, including Hosseiny and his mother, all of whom were green card holders, and moved to revoke their residency.

The arrests revealed a rift in the Iranian-American community, which has become increasingly polarized in recent years, leading to online smear campaigns. sometimes violence.

In Los Angeles, home to the largest community of people of Iranian descent outside Iran, a vocal segment has joined forces with pro-Trump far-right conservatives, including Laura Loomer, to launch campaigns against other Iranians they believe should not be allowed to live here.

Many locals fled Iran after the Islamic Revolution in 1979 and applauded the latest US military strikes against their country. Some turned to Iranian Americans who expressed anti-war views, interpreting this stance as support for the current government.

A poster supporting Iran’s former crown prince Reza Pahlavi hangs in the window of Eshgh Gallery, which sells artwork and clothing reflecting Iranian culture, on Westwood Boulevard in Los Angeles in April 2026.

(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)

Tensions are interpersonal; Arguments and friendships at family gatherings become strained or soured. But much of the conflict also happens online, normally like one “mom influencer” based in San Diego. posts images of himself and her three young children, peeling hazelnuts, arranging tulips and peeling pomegranates in a delightful backyard setting, urged Instagram followers to contact Loomer; [the Islamic Republic’s] butlers can be arranged.”

Anger against the Iranian government is directed at family members of current or former officials; Online petitions describe ordinary Iranians living in luxury in the United States even as they face oppression from a brutal government at home.

Agoura Hills residents Seyed Eissa Hashemi and Maryam Tahmasebi, both psychology professors. They were detained by immigration authorities in early April – like his sons Seyed Mobin Hashemi. The State Department said the elder Hashemi was the son of Masoumeh Ebtekar, who rose to fame as a spokesman for the militants. The US Embassy in Tehran was raided in 1979 and became a reformist politician pushing for environmental protection and women’s rights.

Petition The petition that led to the family’s detention collected more than 140,000 signatures; many identified themselves as members of the Iranian diaspora in the United States, Australia, or elsewhere. The creator of the petition on Change.org is also published petitions The group, which targeted five other families, did not respond to a request for comment.

The Times was unable to reach Hashemi or the family’s lawyer. While announcing their detention on social media, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the Obama administration has issued visas to family members who are legal permanent residents since June 2016.

The Department of Homeland Security declined to answer questions about Hosseiny and his mother’s case. White House press secretary Abigail Jackson also declined to comment. The State Department and Loomer did not respond to requests for comment.

Jamal Abdi, president of the Iranian National American Council, said some of that sentiment stems from real complaints about corruption in Iran, such as the banker who embezzled millions. Before escaping to Canada. But he said the rumors were weaponized to silence voices opposing U.S. and Israeli military aggression against Iran and were used by the Trump administration to flex domestic power during a shaky war.

Flags of pre-revolutionary Iran are prominently displayed at the Jordanian Market, a vendor of Iranian products on Los Angeles’ Westwood Boulevard in April 2026.

(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)

“This witch hunt has become really widespread and it is not new,” Abdi said. “What seems new is that there is an administration that is willing and eager to entertain this McCarthyism and actually punish people according to the demands of the mob.”

Support for Reza Pahlavi, the exiled crown prince and son of the late shah, is evident in the section of Westwood known as “Tehrangeles”. The campaign to install him as Iran’s leader intensified in January as protests spread across the country. Religious Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a US-Israeli attack in February.

“Make Iran Great Again” signs and posters of the stern-faced Pahlavi hang in almost every window. Iran’s pre-1979 revolution flag (green, white and red, with a lion and the rising sun) flies on many ledges.

In early March, as the United States expanded its attack on Iran, crowds from the diaspora gathered in the neighborhood. dancing and celebrating Even as the death toll rises in Iran and reports say a missile strike has killed more than 100 schoolchildren.

These days, many in Westwood are more moderate in their support for the war than they were at the beginning, hesitant to speak out whether because of potential backlash in the United States or because of the influence of relatives in Iran.

Narges Bajoghli, an associate professor of Middle Eastern studies at Johns Hopkins University, said Iranians who did not support Pahlavi or a return to monarchy under American and Israeli intervention “faced a lot of backlash.” Bajoghli cited a groupthink dynamic promoted by popular Persian-language media such as Iran International, as well as U.S.-funded media. counter propaganda Programs from Trump’s first term.

Comments began pouring in after human rights attorney Aida Ashouri, a candidate for Los Angeles city attorney, posted a video explaining why she opposes the U.S. war in Iran.

“Please deport this woman,” one user wrote, tagging Rubio and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “He constantly spreads dubious anti-war propaganda.”

Aida Ashouri, a candidate for LA city attorney, poses for a photo at Astralab on April 24, 2026.

(For Etienne Laurent / The Times)

Ashouri, a U.S. citizen, spent her childhood frequenting businesses in Westwood, but no longer feels comfortable there for fear of some sort of altercation. He said some businesses removed campaign posters from their windows after the war began.

“This affects my campaign 100%. Even though I am Iranian, it is difficult to connect with the Iranian community anymore,” he said.

The State Department said it had revoked the green cards of Iranians it had targeted in recent weeks, including Hosseiny and his mother. Immigration experts said it’s not that simple, as a legal process must be completed during which green cards remain valid.

Even so, Muzaffar Chishti of the Migration Policy Institute said the executive branch has broad discretion in immigration law, especially when citing national security grounds, and defense attorneys could face an uphill battle.

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, said he was “personally disturbed by the idea that we should deport someone because they have grandparents.”

“The government generally does not outsource investigative processes to outsiders,” he said, citing Loomer and others. “There are still a lot of questions about how these people were found and targeted.”

Following the arrest of Hosseiny and his mother, Hamideh Soleimani Afshar, by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on April 3. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed He said they were the Iranian general’s great-nephew and nephew. The State Department said Afshar denounced America as the “Great Satan” and showed “unwavering support for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps” while “enjoying a luxurious lifestyle in Los Angeles.”

Social media posts showing Soleimani Afshar posing for flashy photos and photos of Hussein in a similar style were published in numerous news outlets.

Loomer took credit for the April 4 arrests of the two women, writing to X that he had been “quietly documenting” the women’s social media activities for several months and sharing that information with the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State.

But within hours, Hosseiny and his mother’s connection to the slain general and his daughter became controversial. writing on social media He said he had “no relationship” with his family. Examination of family documents, As first reported by Dropsite News, It shows that Afshar’s father had no brothers and that the general was from a different province than Afshar’s family.

Hosseiny said his mother harshly criticized the US and Israel’s military attack on Iran. But Hosseiny “always thought that people had freedom in America.”

She said her mother’s health was deteriorating as she battled severe anemia due to autoimmunity, and her mother’s home and car were broken into amid a flood of online hate.

Hosseiny said he was “still in disbelief” after four weeks in custody. his friends raise funds for his legal defense.

Times writer Cierra Morgan contributed to this report.