The arrests come as the United States is on heightened alert for terrorist attacks after bombing Iran’s nuclear development facilities.
On Tuesday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced that its agents arrested eleven Iranian nationals that either had criminal backgrounds or were suspected to have ties to terrorism.
The individuals were arrested over the weekend. They were confirmed by officials to have been living in the United States illegally.
Agents also arrested a United States citizen who has been accused of harboring one of the Iranian nationals and threatening to “shoot ICE officers in the head,” according to a statement made by the Department of Homeland Security.
Prior to the order given by President Trump to bomb Iran, officials in Iran threatened the United States with terrorist attacks on its soil.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has said no credible threats have been found in the United States following the bombing of nuclear sites in Iran.
Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said the department “has been full throttle on identifying and arresting known or suspected terrorists and violent extremists that illegally entered this country.”
Five of the eleven men arrested over the weekend have existing criminal records that include convictions for grand larceny, drug and firearm possession, and other crimes.
One of the arrests was made in Locust, Alabama. Ribvar Karimi was an Iranian army sniper between the years of 2018 and 2021. He entered the United States on a K-1 visa in 2024. A K-1 visa is for foreigners that are engaged to be married to American citizens.
The Department of Homeland Security said, “Karimi never adjusted his legal status — a legal requirement — and is removable from the United States.”
Another arrest was made of 56-year-old Mehran Makari Saheli in St. Paul, Minnesota. He is a former member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. According to the department, Saheli has “admitted connections to Hezbollah,” a U.S.-designated terrorist organization that is supported by Iran. Saheli also previously served a 15-month prison sentence for a firearm possession conviction.
Mehzrad Asadi Eidivand was arrested over the weekend in Tempe, Arizona with United States citizen Linet Vartaniann. Vartaniann was accused of harboring Eidivand and threatening to shoot ICE officers.
Eidivand had been in the United States since June of 2012, according to DHS.
In Houston, agents arrested Behzad Sepehrian Bahary Nejad. An Iranian national, Nejad entered the United States in Houston in 2016 on an F-1 student visa.
Also arrested in Houston was Hamid Reza Bayat, who was in the United States in defiance of an immigration judge’s order to leave. The order was issued in August of 2005, according to DHS. Bayat has been convicted twice of drug crimes and once of driving on a suspended license. He was also imprisoned in the United States.
Mahmoud Shafiei and Mehrdad Mehdipour were arrested in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Shafiei had been under orders to leave the United States since at least January of 1987, according to DHS. He has a criminal record that includes child abuse, drug crimes, and arrests for assault.
DHS said Mehdipour had been living in the United States since 2023.
ICE agents also made arrests of Iranian nationals residing in the U.S. illegally in San Francisco, Buffalo, and San Diego.
