U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have arrested several individuals with alarming military and terror affiliations during nationwide raids targeting illegal migrants.
Among those detained is Ribvar Karimi, a former Iranian Army sniper who served from 2018 to 2021.
Karimi was apprehended in Locust Fork, Alabama, where he had been living with his American wife, Morgan Gardner.
According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), he was found in possession of an Islamic Republic of Iran Army identification card.
Karimi entered the U.S. legally in October on a K-1 visa—intended for foreign nationals engaged to American citizens—under the Biden administration.
He married Morgan Gardner in January, but failed to adjust his immigration status afterwards, rendering his presence in the country unlawful.
In Minnesota, ICE agents also arrested Mehran Makari Saheli, 56, a former member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), who allegedly has ties to Hezbollah.
Saheli had previously been convicted as a felon in possession of a firearm and served 15 months in prison.
Despite receiving a deportation order on June 28, 2022, he remained in the country until his arrest.
Both Karimi and Saheli are now in ICE custody pending removal.
Karimi’s wife has publicly defended him, stating:
“This man loves America. The first purchase he made when he got here was an American flag,” she told a local news outlet.
“If he was here on bad intentions, he wouldn’t be walking around with a flag, knowing he could be deported and sent back to a country where he could be killed for that.”
Morgan Gardner, who is seven months pregnant, expressed concern she may have to give birth without her husband.
Additionally, ICE arrested Mehrzad Asadi Eidivand, who had previously been ordered removed by an immigration judge 12 years ago.
He was convicted of threatening a law enforcement officer and of being an alien in possession of a firearm.
Eidivand had originally entered the U.S. via the southern border in June 2012 and was caught Sunday in Tempe, Arizona.
In a separate case, ICE detained Behzad Sepehrian Bahary Nejad in Texas. Nejad entered the U.S. on a student visa in 2016 and was arrested the following year in the Houston area for choking a family member.
His wife secured a restraining order after he threatened her and her family in Iran. He was found armed with a 9mm pistol during his arrest.
All suspects are now in federal custody as deportation proceedings move forward.
