More Iranians with criminal histories arrested by ICE officials
At least five more Iranian nationals were arrested on Monday in addition to the 11 announced by the Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday morning. The arrests come amid concerns about Iranian sleeper cells in the United States following the strikes on nuclear sites in the Middle Eastern nation. While there is currently a ceasefire between Iran and Israel, DHS noted the arrests made since Sunday.
On Monday, 45-year-old Mohammad Hassanpoor was arrested by officers in Baltimore and given a “Third Country Notice.” He was previously criminally convicted of “assault with a deadly weapon or force likely to produce great bodily injury,” where he was sentenced to just under a year behind bars. He was also previously sentenced roughly three months behind bars for “battery: spouse/ex sp/date/etc.” and sentenced to two years for stalking.
Kaveh Abedi, 45, was arrested in Chicago on Monday for “violations of the Immigration and Nationality Act” and had a 2001 conviction for selling cocaine. Arish Rustami was also arrested and has a prior sex offense, and Abdolmohammad Raghibzadeh was taken into ICE custody on Monday. He has had a deportation order since November 2005 from an Arizona immigration judge and is currently an Iranian citizen, according to ICE.
In 1999, Raghibzadeh faced arrests for “domestic violence, vandalism, and intimidation” and faced 90 days behind bars and five years of probation as a result. He faced two other arrests and jail time for “violations of probation of the previous crimes.” In May 2006, Raghibzadeh could not get proper paperwork to go back to Iran, so he was given an “order of supervision” and then released. But in 2007, he was arrested again by sheriffs in Santa Ana, Calif., for not following probation and had to spend the rest of it at the California Chino Detention Center, according to ICE.
Sahand Yousefinasrabadi was arrested Monday by federal authorities “during targeted enforcement action” in Forth Worth, Texas. Yousefinasrabadi was convicted in September 2013 of aggravated sexual assault of a child, and he was asked in October 2013 to leave the U.S. by an immigration judge.
Notably, Yousef Mehridehno was arrested by ICE on Sunday in Mississippi and was on a “known or suspected” terror watchlist as of February. Former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps member Mehran Makari Saheli was arrested by ICE in Minnesota, and DHS said he has “admitted connections to Hezbollah” and stayed in the U.S. despite being court-ordered to leave in June 2022.
During the Biden administration alone, 729 out of the roughly 1,500 Iranian nationals that came into the country illegally were released into the U.S. This has raised concerns about national security and the potential threats posed by individuals with criminal histories or connections to terrorist organizations. The Department of Homeland Security has been actively pursuing and apprehending known or suspected terrorists to ensure the safety and security of the American people.
