The family of Seyed Eissa Hashemi initially feared a kidnapping when he disappeared from their Los Angeles County residence on Thursday. They contacted law enforcement, but soon after, ICE agents arrived and detained both him and his spouse.
In a related development, Secretary of State Marco Rubio revoked the green cards of “Screaming Mary” Masoumeh Ebtekar’s son, along with his wife, Maryam Tahmasebi, and their young child. This action followed the arrest of the late Iranian military figure Gen. Qasem Soleimani’s niece and grandniece.
The detentions occurred shortly after The Post reported on the family’s lavish lifestyle at their Agoura Hills apartment complex, “The Avalon,” earlier that week.
Hashemi, who serves as an adjunct associate professor at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology, was approached after a gym session but declined to publicly disavow his infamous mother.
He completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Tehran in 2006 before relocating to the United States in 2010 to pursue a Ph.D. in organizational leadership at The Chicago School.
On Saturday, neighbors expressed surprise, noting they were unaware of the family’s ties to the Iranian regime or even their country of origin.
”They were panicking because they thought he’d been kidnapped,” Neighbor Natalie told The Post about the aftermath of his arrest on Thursday.
Hashemi had left his keys but still had his phone, allowing his family to track him, neighbors said.
“They said our father disappeared and that somebody basically came and picked him up grabbed him”
ICE later picked up Hashemi’s wife and son, although the details are unclear.
Hashemi’s mother, Ebtekar, “crafted propaganda falsely showing the humane treatment of the hostages, arranging staged interviews in which the American hostages were pressured to describe their treatment in positive terms – even as they were being held in solitary confinement, blindfolded and starved, and subjected to physical and psychological terror, including beatings and mock executions,” according to the State Department.
The State Department said the family’s right to live in the country was revoked in a bid to “never allow America to become a home for foreign nationals tied to anti-American terrorist regimes.”
The decision to cancel the visa follows a long-running campaign by anti-Iranian activists.
In January, protestors gathered at the $20,000 a year Chicago School in Claremont, and other teaching institutions in the area with links to Hashemi, for rallies calling for him to be deported.
Organizers of Change.org petitions want Hashemi to be kicked out of the country.
One wrote: “While the mother has no regret of occupying the US embassy in Tehran, many Iranians have been affected by this action while her own son has taken advantage of living in the US.
“We want Issa Hashemi and his wife, Maryam Tahmasebi to be fired from the US as soon as possible.”
A poster on Instagram said: “Mr. Hashemi has never publicly distanced himself from his mother’s actions or legacy.
“I believe Eissa Hashemi’s affiliations could undermine the safety, trust, integrity, values, or commitment to human rights at an American college, warranting further examination.”
Hamideh Soleimani Afshar, 47, the niece of Soleimani, is being held in an ICE detention center in Texas following her arrest at her Tujunga home home April 3.
Soleimani’s grandnice, Sarinasadat Hosseiny, 25, had been flaunting her luxe LA lifestyle and glam outfits on her social media accounts.
The US government also ended the legal status of Fatemeh Ardeshir-Larijani, daughter of top Iranian security official Ali Larijani, who was killed in a US-Israel attack last month.
She worked as an assistant professor at Emory University’s prestigious Winship Cancer Institute in Atlanta.
Rep. Buddy Carter, who in a formal letter demanded her removal and argued US institutions must not serve as a “safe harbor” for individuals tied to hostile regimes.
Fatemeh and her husband Seyed Kalantar Motamedi “are no longer in the United States and are barred from future entry,” according to the department.
