Multiple States — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have arrested several illegal migrants with alleged military and terrorist backgrounds since Sunday, including an Iranian army sniper and a suspected Hezbollah associate.
Ribvar Karimi, who served as an Iranian Army sniper from 2018 to 2021, was found in rural Alabama living with his American wife. Karimi entered the U.S. legally on a K-1 visa in October under the Biden administration but failed to adjust his status, making his presence illegal. ICE discovered him in Locust Fork Sunday, where he was carrying an Islamic Republic of Iran Army ID card.
Karimi’s wife, Morgan Gardner, defends him, saying, “This man loves America. The first purchase he made when he got here was an American Flag.” Gardner, who is seven months pregnant, fears she may have to give birth alone if Karimi is deported.
In Minnesota, ICE arrested Mehran Makari Saheli, 56, a former member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps with admitted ties to Hezbollah. Saheli has a felony conviction for firearm possession and served 15 months in prison. Despite a deportation order issued in June 2022, he evaded authorities until his arrest.
Other arrests include Mehrzad Asadi Eidivand in Arizona, ordered removed 12 years ago and convicted of threatening law enforcement and firearm possession; and Behzad Sepehrian Bahary Nejad in Texas, who entered on a student visa and was arrested for domestic violence, with a deportation order since 2019.
ICE also detained another suspect with potential terror ties in Mississippi.
All are currently in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.
