Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested 11 illegal immigrants from Iran over the weekend, including one who reportedly served as a sniper in the Iranian army.
Among those taken into custody was Ribvary Karimi, who the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) says served as a sniper in the Islamic Republic of Iran Army from 2018 to 2021. Karimi was arrested in Locust, Alabama, and was found in possession of an Iranian military identification card.
Karimi entered the United States in October 2024 on a K-1 visa, a visa intended for foreign nationals engaged to be married to US citizens. However, because Karimi never adjusted his status, which is a legal requirement to remain in the country, he is now subject to removal and is currently in ICE custody pending deportation proceedings.
“Under Secretary Noem, DHS has been full throttle on identifying and arresting known or suspected terrorists and violent extremists that illegally entered this country, came in through Biden’s fraudulent parole programs or otherwise,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. “We have been saying we are getting the worst of the worst out—and we are. We don’t wait until a military operation to execute; we proactively deliver on President Trump’s mandate to secure the homeland.”
DHS also highlighted additional individuals among the group arrested, including Mehran Makari Saheli, who was apprehended in Minnesota. Saheli had previously been convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm and was residing in the US in defiance of a removal order issued in 2022. DHS said he was a former member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and had admitted ties to Hezbollah.
The arrests come amid renewed concerns about Iranian sleeper cells in the US following the recent American airstrike that targeted three of Iran’s nuclear facilities. Iran responded with a limited missile attack on a US base in Qatar, which resulted in no casualties after a prior warning was issued and the missiles were intercepted.
President Trump announced Sunday that a ceasefire agreement had been reached between Iran and Israel, though after the US strike, DHS warned of a “heightened threat environment in the United States.”
