Eleven Iranian nationals have been arrested in the last 48 hours by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents across eight different states and nine cities, according to CBS News. This development comes in the wake of a nationwide security alert issued after the U.S. carried out a strike on Iranian nuclear facilities this past weekend.
ICE arrested 11 Iranian nationals illegally in the U.S. over the weekend. These arrests reflect @Sec_Noem’s commitment to keeping known and suspected terrorists out of American communities.
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) June 24, 2025
🧵The criminal illegal aliens arrested include an individual with admitted ties to…
One of the individuals arrested is Mehran Makari Saheli, who is a former member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). ICE arrested Saheli at his home in Minnesota where he "admitted connections to Hezbollah," an Iranian-funded terrorist organization.
On June 22, in St. Paul, Minnesota, ICE arrested Mehran Makari Saheli, a 56-year-old Iranian national. He was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm in Minneapolis, where he was sentenced to 15 months in prison.
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) June 24, 2025
He is a former member of off the Islamic… pic.twitter.com/GBhWrkJM0z
On Sunday, authorities also arrested Ribvar Karmi in northern Alabama, where they discovered an Islamic Republic of Iran Army identification card in his possession. According to federal law enforcement, Karmi is a former Iranian Army sniper who served from 2018 to 2021 and entered the United States in 2024.
On June 22, ICE Atlanta arrested Ribvar Karimi in Locust, Alabama. Karimi reportedly served as an Iranian Army sniper from 2018 to 2021 and at the time of his arrest, in his possession, he had an Islamic Republic of Iran Army identification card.
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) June 24, 2025
He entered the U.S. on a K-1… pic.twitter.com/lIfD7a48xo
A man by he name of Yousef Mehridehno was also arrested just outside Jackson, Mississippi, 4 months after being placed on the U.S. known or suspected terrorist list.
On June 22, in Gluckstadt, Mississippi, ICE officers and agents arrested Yousef Mehridehno, an Iranian national and former lawful permanent resident.
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) June 24, 2025
The U.S. government terminated Mehridehno’s residency in October 2017 after determining he lied on his original visa application… pic.twitter.com/KqTrNM7Dus
ICE reported that five of the individuals arrested had prior criminal convictions, including charges such as grand larceny, drug offenses, and multiple charges of unlawful firearm possession.
None of the individuals apprehended have been directly tied to known terrorist plots or explicit threats to national security. Still, the far more unsettling question remains: how many potential sleeper cells are already embedded within the United States, and how many were able to slip in due to the open border policy of former President Joe Biden?