Iranian-American activists are circulating two online petitions to ask the Trump administration to deport the relatives of senior Iranian regime officials, arguing they should not enjoy lives of comfort and privilege in America while the Islamist regime is murdering thousands of dissidents to remain in power.
One of the petitions targets Eissa Hashemi, the 43-year-old son of Masoumeh Ebtekar, a spokeswoman for the Islamic revolution in Iran when it took American embassy workers hostage in 1979.
Ebtekar went on to become the first female vice president of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Her son has been living in the United States since 2010 and currently works as an adjunct professor at The Chicago School in Los Angeles.
The other petition is directed against Fatemeh Ardeshir-Larijani, daughter of Ali Larijani, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council. Larijani was among the more belligerent defenders of the regime’s brutal crackdown on protesters this month, claiming the movement was created by America and Israel and threatening violent reprisals against American personnel in the Middle East.
Larijani was one of five senior Iranian officials sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department last week for their role in the horrific crackdown on demonstrators. The Treasury Department noted that Larijani was one of the first high-ranking officials to call for using violence to suppress the protests.
Ardeshir-Larijani, 40, is a licensed doctor living in Atlanta, Georgia. She is employed as an assistant professor in the hematology and oncology department at the Emory University School of Medicine. She received a green card under the Biden administration in 2021.
The petitions in favor of deporting Hashemi and Ardeshir-Larijani said it was unreasonable for them to “benefit from the wealth of the Iranian people and live safely in the United States while their families rule a brutal dictatorship in Iran.”
The petitions noted that neither offspring of Iranian officials has publicly denounced the words or deeds of their parents, nor raised objections to their comfortable lifestyles being financed by the “suffering of Iranians.”
Mersedeh Shahinkar, whose right eye was destroyed by a bullet during the “Women, Life, Freedom” uprising against the regime in 2022, told the New York Post it was outrageous to see the pampered children of the brutal Islamist regime living comfortably in America – a country their parents ostensibly despise as the “Great Satan.”
“Why are visas given to these people? Why should they freely travel and live comfortably here? If Iran is good for them, if the Islamic Republic is good for them, they should go live there,” Shahinkar contended.
The Trump White House said last week that it is “reviewing all immigration benefits granted under the former Biden administration to aliens from Countries of Concern, including Iran.”
The New York Post reported that dozens of Iranian-Americans gathered outside Emory University on Monday for a silent protest against its employment of Ali Larijani’s daughter.
“Silence was intentional. It reflects mourning, respects the victims, and contrasts sharply with the violence protesters face in Iran. It also avoids disruption while still delivering a powerful message,” one of the Iranian-American protesters told the New York Post.
“Larijani regularly calls the U.S. the ‘Great Satan,’ while sending his daughter here to pursue higher education and opportunity. Meanwhile, ordinary, highly qualified Iranian students and scientists face years long visa delays or outright denials,” the female protester said, recalling her own lengthy effort to obtain a security clearance.
“The question is simple: why are talented pro-American Iranians [sic] scientists blocked across the board, while relatives of officials openly hostile to the U.S. fall through the cracks?” she said.
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