Former Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps member Mehran Makari Saheli was arrested by ICE in St. Paul over the weekend. He is also a convicted felon with admitted ties to Hezbollah who was ordered deported three years ago. We should probably pause over this case. Alpha News hits the high points:
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials announced they arrested a former member of the the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in St. Paul this weekend.
Mehran Makari Saheli was arrested on June 22 by federal officials. According to ICE, the 57-year-old Saheli was illegally present in the United States after an immigration judge ordered him to leave the country three years ago.
ICE says Saheli is an Iranian national, a convicted felon, a former member of Iran’s IRGC, and has “admitted connections” to the terrorist organization Hezbollah. A major component of the Iranian military, the IRGC contains Iran’s ground, naval, aerospace, and other forces.
“Saheli is now in ICE custody pending removal,” said the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The arrest of Saheli was one of several operations DHS conducted over the weekend which led to the apprehension of 11 Iranian nationals who were allegedly in the United States illegally. Iranian nationals were arrested in Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Minnesota, Mississippi, New York, and Texas….
St. Paul is of course Minnesota’s capital city. It isn’t clear to me why Saheli was not deported in 2022 or 2023. I am trying to find out. I will only add that St. Paul is a sanctuary city. I have written Governor Walz to request comment, but I’m pretty sure he’s not talking to me.
