10 Years in America: Shocking Arrest of Iranian Arms Suspect at LAX—What He Was Hiding Will Leave You Speechless!

An Iranian woman, Shamim Mafi, 44, stands accused of orchestrating a global weapons pipeline to aid the Iranian regime, all while enjoying a seemingly lavish life in California for over a decade. Living in a modest townhouse in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles County, Mafi allegedly managed a sophisticated, sanctions-busting arms operation that involved brokering deals for drones, bombs, and other military-grade weaponry on behalf of Tehran.

According to federal investigators, Mafi had maintained intricate and long-standing connections to Iran's intelligence and political elite. Her arrest comes on the heels of multiple visa cancellations for family members tied to the regime, who were also residing in California, home to the largest Iranian expatriate community in the world.

Among those arrested during this operation was Hamideh Soleimani Afshar, 47, the niece of the late Iranian general Qasem Soleimani. ICE agents revoked her green card as they detained her in Tujunga, a community located north of Los Angeles. Mafi's daughter, Sarinasadat Hosseiny, 25, was also arrested in the same sweep. Additionally, Seyed Eissa Hashemi, 43, the son of another high-ranking Iranian official known as “Screaming Mary,” was taken into custody along with his family after losing his legal status.

Yousof Azizi, an Iranian academic, also found himself detained by immigration authorities due to alleged links to a Basij-affiliated organization connected to the regime’s security apparatus.

Having moved to California in 2016 and holding a U.S. green card, Mafi reportedly communicated with an Iranian intelligence officer approximately 60 times between 2022 and 2025. She allegedly claimed to be “more useful” to Iran’s intelligence services abroad than in the U.S., a statement that investigators believe underscores her pivotal role in facilitating arms deals across multiple countries.

Mafi's ties to the Iranian regime were not merely superficial; she was previously married to an Iranian spy from the regime’s Ministry of Intelligence, and she maintained close contact with another operative who guided her activities. This relationship purportedly enabled her to reclaim property inherited from her father in 2020, which had been seized by the regime, and to facilitate a U.S.-based business venture aimed at sending medical supplies to African nations through Oman.

In 2024, Mafi was appointed to a role in the presidential campaign of Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, a prominent Tehran figure and former mayor, further illustrating her influence within Iran’s ruling circles. This insider status allegedly empowered her to broker numerous illicit arms deals, including a staggering €60 million (approximately $70.5 million) contract to supply Iranian-made Mohajer-6 armed drones to Sudan, a nation embroiled in a civil war since 2023.

During the investigation, Mafi allegedly sent a video via WhatsApp in February 2025, showcasing a crate filled with $100 bills, indicating the financial scale of the operations. She reportedly claimed to have received $2 million from a Sudan-linked contact, illustrating the extensive nature of the deals she was facilitating.

Authorities revealed that Mafi took extensive measures to stay under the radar, instructing her associates to delete messages and avoid discussing arms deals over the phone. She even devised plans to split transactions into smaller amounts, routing them through informal exchanges in Turkey and the United Arab Emirates to evade scrutiny from U.S. law enforcement.

Mafi supposedly operated through an Oman-based front company and used networks throughout the Middle East to facilitate large cash transfers, with shipments often concealed in crates stuffed with U.S. dollars. Investigators claim she frequently traveled between Los Angeles and various hubs, including Iran, Turkey, and Oman, to meet contacts tied to these arms deals.

She was arrested by federal agents at Los Angeles International Airport while preparing to depart for Istanbul, Turkey, a destination she often visited. Despite having been interviewed multiple times by both the FBI and Customs and Border Patrol, Mafi had not been found with incriminating evidence until her recent arrest.

Mafi now faces charges of conspiracy to violate U.S. sanctions laws, a charge that prosecutors argue exposes a sophisticated foreign weapons network operating out of a quiet Los Angeles suburb, with direct links to the Iranian regime's intelligence and political machinery.