The United States revoked the permanent resident status of three Iranian nationals with ties to the Islamic Republic and placed them in immigration custody, the State Department said on Saturday.
In a statement, the department said Secretary of State Marco Rubio had terminated the green card status of Seyed Eissa Hashemi, Maryam Tahmasebi and their son, who are now in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement pending removal.
“Eissa Hashemi is the son of Masoumeh Ebtekar, also known as “Screaming Mary,” the infamous spokeswoman for the Islamist militants who stormed the US Embassy in Tehran in 1979 and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days,” read the statement.
The department said the three entered the United States in 2014 and were granted permanent residency in 2016 through the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program.
It also said Rubio had recently revoked the legal status of relatives of former IRGC commander Ghasem Soleimani and of the daughter and son-in-law of former Iranian official Ali Larijani.
Rubio had earlier terminated the lawful permanent resident status of the niece and grandniece of former IRGC commander Qasem Soleimani, leading to their arrest by federal agents last week.
Hamideh Soleimani Afshar and her daughter are now in the custody of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to the State Department.
The department alleged that Soleimani Afshar had publicly supported Iran’s government and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps while living in the United States, including through social media posts praising attacks on US forces and promoting regime messaging.
The statement also said Rubio earlier terminated the legal status of Fatemeh Ardeshir-Larijani, daughter of Ali Larijani, along with her husband Seyed Kalantar Motamedi, both of whom are no longer in the United States and are barred from reentry.
The ceasefire announced on April 7 has offered temporary relief to the United States and, by extension, the global economy. Oil prices have since fallen below $100 per barrel, the Strait of Hormuz may finally reopen, and global stock markets have rallied, recovering part of the losses recorded over the previous 40 days.
The coming days may prove crucial for stabilizing seasonal supply chains, particularly for fertilizer inputs transiting the strait during the peak planting period in the Northern Hemisphere.
Inside Iran, however, the outlook is far more complex.
The war effectively froze Iran's economic crises, shuttered markets, and halted price discovery. A similar pattern followed the 12-day conflict earlier in the war, when markets closed temporarily before reopening to renewed upward pressure as underlying imbalances reasserted themselves. This time, the damage is far greater.
During US-Israeli airstrikes on Iran’s strategic infrastructure, attacks on Mahshahr and Asaluyeh petrochemical facilities hit sites Iranian officials say account for 85% of the country’s petrochemical export capacity.
The steel industry was also hit. Since these sectors supply downstream industries from plastics to automotive manufacturing and construction, the full scale of disruption has yet to be assessed.
The Tehran Stock Exchange has been closed for more than 40 consecutive days.
The head of the Securities and Exchange Organization has indicated that war-damaged companies will return to trading at a later stage, meaning that even if the exchange reopens, a significant portion of major firms may remain inactive.
Reopening without viable export-oriented companies could trigger heavy selling pressure in a market where banks and automakers are already loss-making and reliant on state support.
Inflation remains the most pressing crisis. Before the US-Israeli airstrikes, annual inflation had surpassed 70 percent — the highest since World War II. Food inflation reached triple digits, with bread and grains rising by 140 percent and cooking oil by more than 200 percent.
The war temporarily suppressed these pressures: demand fell amid unemployment, banking disruptions reduced the velocity of money, and property and automobile transactions slowed sharply.
With the Pakistani-brokered ceasefire, that suppressed demand is likely to return.
The fiscal picture offers no relief. The approved budget included a 65-percent rise in taxes, but roughly 60 percent of working-age individuals are currently unemployed.
In effect, the government is attempting to tax its way out of a fiscal crisis in an economy where the majority of working-age adults have no income to tax. Post-war military expenditures and reconstruction obligations have increased sharply, with no significant new revenue streams available.
Compounding this is the disruption of Iran's primary financial channel through Dubai, which for years served as a central hub for trade and currency transactions worth $16 billion to $28 billion annually.
Following recent attacks on Dubai, Emirati authorities reportedly detained dozens of currency dealers linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guard and shut down associated front companies.
Alternative channels in Herat and Erbil remain active but lack Dubai's scale. When suppressed demand for foreign currency returns, it will hit a narrower, less efficient set of channels, amplifying exchange rate volatility.
The ceasefire offered the world a reprieve. For Iran, it removed the only thing suppressing a crisis that had been building for months. When markets reopen, they will price in not only pre-war imbalances but the destruction of the export capacity that once generated foreign currency.
The rial will face a market that has every reason to reprice it sharply downward, and a state with fewer tools than ever to intervene. Iran's economy has not returned to its pre-war condition. It has moved past it.
Yet the ceasefire itself is fragile, reportedly violated several times within its first 48 hours. Even in the best-case diplomatic scenario, the technology and capital required for reconstruction will not materialize within weeks, and as long as the risk of renewed conflict remains, investors are unlikely to commit long-term capital.
What comes next at the negotiating table will shape whether any of it matters.
Footage shared on social media showed demonstrators gathering in the capital, where a speaker warned Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, reported to be leading upcoming talks with the United States, not to abandon retaliation after the killing of former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
“Mr. Ghalibaf, whatever you have in this country is because of our martyred leader. Damn you if you want to trample on the blood of our leader,” the speaker said.
Other clips showed crowds chanting against “compromise” and calling for continued war with the United States and Israel. Some demanded allegiance to new leader Mojtaba Khamenei, while others questioned why earlier threats, including keeping the Strait of Hormuz closed, had not been carried out.
A woman in one video said, “We have not taken revenge for our leader. We want to remain enemies with America and Israel until the last drop of our blood. We do not want to negotiate.”
Hardline media rejects ceasefire
Hossein Shariatmadari, editor-in-chief of the hardline Kayhan newspaper, wrote on Wednesday that any temporary ceasefire or negotiation with the United States would only help Washington recover and prepare for further attacks.
Shariatmadari said even if the other side accepted all of Iran’s reported conditions, there was no reason to believe the United States would honor them.
State media debate exposes divisions
Disagreements over negotiations surfaced during live broadcasts on state television, where an analyst argued over whether to continue talks or escalate.
Mehdi Khanalizadeh, a commentator, said on Wednesday attacks had undermined the basis for diplomacy. “America and Israel have attacked the negotiating table and there is no longer a foundation for talks,” Khanalizadeh said.
This was not something new. On Saturday, hardline figures targeted officials who had advocated de-escalation, including former foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and former president Hassan Rouhani.
Hamid Rasaei, a lawmaker, called on the judiciary to detain both men after Rouhani urged preparations to end the war and Zarif proposed a negotiated settlement.
In an article in Foreign Affairs, Zarif argued Iran should use its position to “declare victory and make a deal,” proposing limits on the nuclear program and reopening the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for lifting sanctions.
Rouhani said ending the conflict in a way that protects national interests required policy changes and coordination to safeguard strategic areas.
At rallies, demonstrators burned images of Zarif and Rouhani, accusing them of serving US interests. Saeed Haddadian, a maddah (religious eulogist and chant leader) close to the establishment, issued a direct warning.
“I give Zarif three days. If he does not say he screwed up, on the fourth night we will gather and go to his house,” Haddadian said.
State media reported that mourning processions started in the morning across several cities and would continue until 8 p.m. with organized groups moving through urban centers as part of coordinated nationwide commemorations.
Ali Khamenei was killed on February 28 minutes after the war began. Iranian state media confirmed his death the following day, and authorities announced 40 days of public mourning.
Officials have not said where or how he was buried, leaving room for claims that the burial was conducted in secret – or even that his body has yet to be formally interred or recovered.
In Shiite tradition, the fortieth day after death is closely tied to visits to a grave and large public gatherings. The absence of a confirmed burial site has set this commemoration apart, raising questions among observers.
Church ceremony triggers wave of mockery
A separate fortieth-day ceremony held at Tehran’s Saint Sarkis Church on Wednesday drew widespread attention and a flood of mocking reactions online.
The event, attended by Culture Minister Abbas Salehi, marked an unusual venue for a ceremony tied to a central figure in Shiite political and religious life.
“They held a fortieth in a church while his body has not even been buried,” one user wrote. “Someone who literally claimed to be the most devout Muslim still has not even had funeral prayers.”
Another comment took a more scathing tone: “Forty days have passed and his corpse is still lying around. The fortieth is a sacred day in Shiite tradition, when people gather at a grave for a proper ceremony. But for him, none of that is possible.”
Several users framed the situation as symbolic retribution. “This is karma,” one wrote. “They insulted people and denied dignity to the dead for years, and now he has no grave, no ceremony.”
Others directly referenced past state restrictions on mourning for protesters. “They used to prevent families from holding funerals, demand payment for burial, and intimidate mourners,” one user wrote. “Now the same has come back to them.”
The choice of a church as a venue became a focal point of ridicule. “From fear of the followers of Moses to taking refuge with the followers of Jesus,” one comment read.
Another user wrote: “They are holding the ceremony in a church because they know it will not be targeted,” suggesting the decision was driven by security concerns.
Others highlighted what they described as contradiction. “These same authorities arrested and persecuted Christians, and now they are holding a ceremony in a church after keeping his body for 40 days,” one comment read.
Ceasefire backdrop and continued tensions
The commemorations come after 40 days of conflict that continued until Tuesday night, followed by a temporary halt in fighting.
A two-week ceasefire between Tehran and Washington – with Israel backing it – was agreed after last-minute mediation led by Pakistan.
However, explosions and air defense activity were reported in multiple cities on Wednesday and Thursday night, according to local accounts, while strategic islands were targeted in strikes that some media attributed to regional actors.
Confident that US and Israeli strikes would avoid civilian areas, government supporters in recent weeks gathered at evening local events, repeating official narratives and calling for continued confrontation rather than negotiations.
The fortieth-day ceremonies have again provided a platform for such pro-government supporters.
Authorities emphasize continuity
The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said in a statement marking the fortieth day that Khamenei’s death was as consequential as his life in advancing the Islamic Republic’s trajectory.
“The loss of the leader is difficult, but enduring his absence is made possible through the continuation of his path and the realization of promised outcomes,” the Guards said.
Videos circulating online also showed a visible presence of Afghan immigrant participants in ceremonies in Tehran, highlighting the broader networks mobilized for the commemorations.
Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, and Houthis in Yemen were also designated.
The government made the decision on Monday, according to the ministry, which said the measure was taken in line with Costa Rica’s international commitments to combat terrorism and its financing.
The move will "allow intelligence authorities and judicial bodies to strengthen their prevention, investigation, and prosecution capabilities, acting more decisively against any logistical and financial support networks that may be operating within the country to sustain these organizations,” the foreign ministry said.
It added that the designation would help intelligence and judicial authorities strengthen their ability to prevent, investigate and prosecute logistical and financial support networks linked to the groups.
“The designation seeks to prevent any form of action or influence by these groups in Costa Rica, safeguarding the security of the population and integrity of our democratic institutions," according to the statement.
Several countries have moved in recent weeks to designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization, while the Trump administration has urged allies to take similar action against the IRGC and Hezbollah.
Iceland, Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Liechtenstein designated the terror group on March 20, followed by Argentina on March 31.
Western governments have increasingly targeted the IRGC over its regional activities, support for armed groups and role in Iran’s security apparatus.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guards have been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada, the European Union, and Australia.
