Rubio Revokes Green Cards of 1979 Hostage Crisis Family

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on April 11, 2026, that he had revoked the lawful permanent resident statuses of three Iranian nationals linked to a key figure in Iran's 1979 U.S. Embassy takeover, leading to their arrest by federal immigration authorities in California.

The individuals affected are Seyed Eissa Hashemi, his wife Maryam Tahmasebi, and their son Seyed Mobin Hashemi. They were taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Los Angeles on the same day, and they now face deportation proceedings. Hashemi is the son of Masoumeh Ebtekar, who served as a spokesperson for the Iranian militants who seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in November 1979, holding 52 American diplomats and citizens hostage for 444 days. During the crisis, the hostages endured harsh conditions, including physical and psychological abuse.

The family had entered the United States in 2014 under visas issued during the Obama administration. Hashemi arrived on September 1 at San Francisco International Airport on an F-1 student visa. In June 2016, they obtained lawful permanent resident status, known as green cards, through the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program....