Overview

• Federal agents arrested 11 Iranian nationals over the weekend across eight states and nine cities, including a former IRGC member with admitted Hezbollah ties and one individual on a U.S. terrorist watchlist.
• Five of those detained had previous convictions for offenses such as grand larceny, drug crimes or unlawful firearm possession, and one was found carrying an Iranian Army identification card indicating sniper service from 2018 to 2021.
• Yousef Mehridehno was taken into custody in Mississippi after being listed as a known or suspected terrorist in February and losing his permanent residency in 2017.
• The Department of Homeland Security activated its National Terrorism Advisory System after U.S. airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, warning officials to watch for potential sleeper cell activities.
• DHS officials say the arrests fulfill President Trump’s expanded immigration enforcement directive to remove violent extremists, and a U.S. citizen was also charged with harboring one of the detainees and threatening ICE officers.