Latest news with #ex-Iranian
Newsweek
12 hours ago
- Politics
- Newsweek
Iranian Immigrant Detained By ICE Is a Trump Supporter, Wife Says
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. The heavily pregnant wife of an ex-Iranian army soldier detained by federal immigration agents has told Newsweek her husband supports President Donald Trump and that he never tried to hide is military service. Ribvar Karimi was apprehended by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on June 22 in Locust, Alabama, according to his family. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) says that Karimi served as a sniper in the Iranian Army from 2018 to 2021. He entered the U.S. on a K-1 fiancé visa in October 2024 but failed to adjust his immigration status as required, making him subject to removal, according to ICE. His wife Morgan Karimi told Newsweek in an exclusive interview: "My husband himself even being from Iran supported Trump, his immigration policies and understood he was trying to protect the American people and was praying he helped free the Iranian people. "He believed in him as well. My husband is from the Kurdish region of Iran, where the people are good people and desperate for freedom from the regime." Newsweek has contacted DHS for comment via email. The Context Iranian nationals have been thrust into the national spotlight in the U.S. following President Trump's recent strike on the country's nuclear facilities. The announcement regarding Iranian nationals allegedly in the U.S. illegally comes as concerns grow about potential terror cells that could be activated in response to the military action. Ribvar Karimi was apprehended by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on June 22 in Locust, Alabama, according to his family. He is seen here with his wife Morgan on their wedding day. Ribvar Karimi was apprehended by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on June 22 in Locust, Alabama, according to his family. He is seen here with his wife Morgan on their wedding day. Supplied What To Know Morgan Karimi, who met Ribvar in 2020 through the video game Call of Duty, stressed her husband's loyalty to the United States, saying his first purchase in the U.S. was an American flag. "This man wears the American flag proudly, and it's a shame that someone who is so proud to be here is at risk of being robbed of building the life he has dreamed of for so long. His groom's cake at our wedding was an American flag cake," Morgan said. Morgan, who is seven-and-a half-months pregnant with their first child, a boy, is expected to give birth on August 20th. The couple wed in January this year. Ribvar Karimi does not currently work and Morgan said they were focused on her complicated pregnancy, during which doctors detected fluid in the baby's lungs and heart. She says the health issues have delayed the couple's filing of Ribvar's adjustment of status, paperwork that they had ready to send in at the time of his arrest. "All of the paperwork had been completed and ready to file. We were ready to send it in and planned on doing so as soon as I gave birth," Morgan said. However, ICE showed up before they were given that opportunity. ICE first went to Morgan's parent's home and then showed up at hers. Morgan said they cooperated fully. "Ribvar and I were waiting on our front porch waiting for them to arrive. Once they got there we freely gave them everything we had," she said. "They told us the reason for his detainment was because we had not yet filed for his adjustment of status." Morgan said there is no official deadline for filing the adjustment of status under a K-1 visa, only that the couple must marry within 90 days, which they did. "This would be much easier to understand if there was a deadline issued for the adjustment of status, but there wasn't. We thought we had time. I am a rule follower and believe in doing the right thing. I never would've put my husband in this position especially this close to our child being born." She said that Ribvar's military service in Iran was never concealed from immigration authorities. His documents, including his military card, were submitted voluntarily to the authorities. "He did serve mandatory military service in Iran. He was made to do this, and 100 percent against the regime. In Iran, if you don't serve in the military then you can't get a passport to ever leave your country." His family fears that if he is deported, he will be detained or killed in Iran due to his open support for the U.S. and opposition to the Iranian regime. His brother, a political refugee, currently lives in France. Morgan, who said she did not vote in the 2024 election, told Newsweek her family has historically supported Trump. She now feels betrayed by the system. "I am just so heartbroken and desperate to get my husband home before I give birth," she said. "We believed in his [Trump's] immigration policies and were completely blindsided and truly believed that only criminals were being detained. "Everyone feels like a fool and regrets the decision. I personally didn't vote in the last election, and neither did my parents. At this point, I believe there are bad people on the left and the right." The administration announced on Tuesday that ICE agents apprehended 11 Iranian citizens over the weekend who were in the country unlawfully, including Ribvar. The cases come amid a backdrop of heightened tensions between the U.S. and Iran after Trump ordered strikes on suspected Iranian nuclear sites. It follows an escalation between Israel and Iran with sides exchanging airstrikes in the region. What People Are Saying The Department of Homeland Security said in a press release about the arrest of 11 Iranian nationals: "On June 22, ICE Atlanta arrested Ribvar Karimi in Locust, Alabama. Karimi reportedly served as an Iranian Army sniper from 2018 to 2021 and at the time of his arrest, in his possession, he had an Islamic Republic of Iran Army identification card. He entered the U.S. on a K-1 visa, which is reserved for aliens engaged to be married to American citizens, in October 2024 under the Biden administration. Karimi never adjusted his status—a legal requirement—and is removable from the United States. He's currently in ICE custody, where he'll remain pending removal proceedings. In the same release, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said: "Under Secretary [Kristi] 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. 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." What Happens Next As Morgan prepares to give birth to their first child, she will continue fighting to bring her husband home before the baby arrives.
Jordan Times
23-04-2025
- Business
- Jordan Times
Tehran and Washington at a crossroads: Can a new nuclear deal bridge deep divides
On Saturday, Iranian and US envoys are set to engage in a third round of indirect negotiations on limiting Tehran's nuclear programme in exchange for lifting sanctions. Both sides characterised the April 19th second round as "constructive." Ahead of the coming round, experts met to discuss technical issues to prepare for accelerated progress. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said they could begin designing a framework for a new nuclear deal, to replace the 2015 six-party agreement from which Donald Trump withdrew the US in May 2018 and slapped 1,500 punitive sanctions on Iran. Under that deal, Iran had to limit uranium enrichment to 3.67 purity for civil uses, its stockpile to 300 kilograms, and its centrifuges to old models, and submit to constant monitoring and inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Iran waited for a year after Trump abandoned the deal before responding. Iran increased enrichment to 20 per cent and then to the 60 per cent level which approaches 90 per cent needed for weapons and increased its overall stockpile to 8,294 kilos. Iran installed high tech centrifuges and curbed IAEA monitoring and inspections. Iran has also doubled the number of its uranium mines from seven t0 14, making it clear that it is preparing for independent long-haul enrichment. Both sides have "red lines." Iran argues it is not prepared to abandon uranium enrichment. The US contends Iran must not build nuclear bombs. Therefore, a new deal will have to rely on compromises, notably by Iran which now has an advanced programme. IAEA head Rafael Grossi told the French daily Le Monde, "It's like a jigsaw puzzle. They have the pieces, and one day they can put them together. There is a way to go to achieve this, but they are not far from it. We have to accept that. In the last four years, we have seen a remarkable acceleration." The IAEA estimates Iran has enough 60 per cent enriched uranium to upgrade to 90 per cent and build at least six nuclear bombs. However, Iran has consistently rejected weaponisation. Writing in The National Interest in December 2012 ex-Iranian diplomat and nuclear negotiator Hossein Musavian explained why Iran does not want the Bomb. First, for religious reasons, supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has ruled "Haram" nuclear bombs along with all weapons of mass destruction. Second, possession of nuclear weapons might give Iran a short-term advantage which, Musavian said, "would turn into longer-term vulnerability.' Third, bombs "would trigger a regional arms race," involving Egypt, Turkey and Saudi Arabia. And, fourth, since Iran wants to modernise, it needs to access "technological cooperation with developed countries." Reconciliation is difficult if not impossible. Iranians blame the US for the 1953 ouster of democratic reformist Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh after he nationalised the Anglo-Persian oil company. Washington's ally Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi returned to power until his overthrow in early 1979 by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. US resentment reached a high pitch and has remained a major factor in relations after Iranian demonstrators seized the US embassy in Tehran in November of that year and held 50 staff members for 444 days. This deeply humiliated the US. Iran does not trust Trump whose first 100 days back in the White House have been chaotic and confusing. Trump has revived his 'maximum pressure' sanctions campaign against Tehran, but in March, he sent a letter to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei calling for renewed negotiations or risk US military action. Trump said, 'I'm not in a rush' to use force...I think Iran wants to talk.' Indeed it does but Tehran expects consistency in the US approach. While the first round on April 12 between Araghchi and US envoy Steve Witkoff was deemed "constructive," ahead of the second round Witkoff adopted the line of Trump administration hardliners. Having said that Iran could continue "enrichment at 3.67 per cent for civil purposes," he posted on social media on the 15th that "Iran must stop and eliminate its nuclear enrichment and weaponisation programme." If he did not drop this notion during the second round, there would have been no third. During mid-April Witkoff also called for "verification" of Iran's ballistic missiles, another demand dismissed by ran which is building a coastal missile base with the aim of entering the space race. Araghchi is a senior figure in Tehran, an experienced negotiator who speaks excellent English and was involved in negotiations which led up to the 2015 deal during the Obama administration. By contrast, Trump's pal of 40 years, Witkoff is a billionaire property developer who plays golf with Trump. Nevertheless, Witkoff has been deployed to make peace between Russia and Ukraine and Hamas and Israel as well as tackle Iran's nuclear programme. So far Witkoff has failed to secure ceasefires in Russia's Ukraine war and Israel's Gaza war. No diplomat, Witkoff attracted ridicule when attending Ukraine security talks in Paris he compared the 303-year old Elysee Palace which houses the French president to Trump's Mar-a-Largo resort and residence. Trump has so far managed to restrain Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from bombing Iran ahead of the negotiations, but Trump has failed to convince him to stop bombing Gaza. Netanyahu has long considered Iran to be Israel's inveterate enemy and has repeatedly expressed his determination to take out Iran's nuclear programme. He has attacked several nuclear facilities and Israel has been blamed for the assassinations of five Iranian nuclear scientists between 2010-2020.
