Opposition campaigners have accused members of Iran's ruling elite of hypocrisy, alleging they use state wealth to fund their adult children's lives in the West while imposing economic hardship and repression at home. The accusations come amid heightened tensions with the US, with Donald Trump deploying a naval armada and considering strikes.
Among those singled out is Ali Larijani, Iran's top national security adviser, whose daughter lives in the US and whose nephews reside in Britain and Canada. Larijani, a vocal critic of Western values, is believed to have played a key role in the crackdown on protests earlier this year. Anger over the so-called aghazadehs, or scions of the elite, is acute after the protests resulted in a death toll that some sources put in the tens of thousands.
One IRGC commander claimed that 4,000 children and relatives of regime officials were living in Western countries in 2024. Larijani's daughter, Fatemeh Ardeshir Larijani, was an assistant professor at Emory University until her employment was terminated after a petition called for her deportation. His brother's sons, Hadi and Sina, work in the UK and Canada respectively.
Former president Hassan Rouhani's niece, Maryam Fereydoun, works for Deutsche Bank in London, while Eissa Hashemi, son of former MP Masoumeh Ebtekar, is an associate professor in Los Angeles. Mahdi Zarif, son of ex-foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, is accused of living in a $16 million Manhattan home. Elias Ghalibaf, son of former IRGC commander Mohammad-Baqer Ghalibaf, lives in Australia.
Kambiz Ghafouri, an Iranian writer and human-rights activist, said: 'They made Iran a hell for Iranian citizens and sent their children to the west to live happily. If there was a referendum voting on whether people want children of the Iranian authorities sent back to Iran, I think more than 90% would say yes.'
