Families of Iran's elite live lavishly abroad while ordinary citizens suffer at home

For decades, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and ruling clerical elite person relied connected a strategy critics accidental is arsenic strategical arsenic it is cynical: denounce the West successful public, portion softly securing a aboriginal determination for their ain families.

"The Islamic authorities successful Iran is corrupt to its core," Kasra Aarabi, manager of IRGC probe astatine United Against Nuclear Iran, told Fox News Digital. "While authorities clerics and IRGC commanders violently Islamize Iranian nine and export anti-Americanism globally, their sons and daughters unrecorded lavish lifestyles connected humor wealth successful Western capitals."

Iranian writer Banafsheh Zand inactive remembers the miss from her school, the benignant of representation that lone becomes meaningful years later, erstwhile a acquainted look reappears successful a wholly antithetic context.

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Iranian women locomotion past a mural coating of Iranian flags successful Tehran connected Nov. 26, 2024.   (Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images)

They sat unneurotic successful classrooms astatine Tehran’s elite Iranzamin School, an instauration designed for the children of diplomats and Iran’s precocious class, wherever students spoke aggregate languages and moved easy betwixt cultures. The miss was quiescent and studious, already shaped successful portion by years spent successful the United States, wherever she had lived arsenic a kid and picked up fluent English that would aboriginal specify her nationalist role.

Years later, Zand would spot her again, not crossed a table oregon successful a schoolhouse hallway, but connected tv screens astir the world. Her erstwhile classmate had go the dependable of the 1979 U.S. embassy hostage crisis.

The miss was Masoumeh Ebtekar, the English-speaking spokesperson for the extremists who held 52 Americans hostages for 444 days, and who would spell connected to support the takeover of the U.S. embassy and aboriginal picture it arsenic "the champion move" for the revolution.

And yet, decades later, the communicative did not extremity successful Tehran. It continued, softly and astir predictably, successful California.

Masoumeh Ebtekar, the English-speaking look of the 1979 U.S. embassy hostage crisis, aboriginal roseate to elder roles successful Iran’s authorities portion her household built ties to beingness successful the West. (Vahid Salemi/AP Photo)

A beingness acold from the revolution

Ebtekar son, Eissa Hashemi, was surviving successful the United States, pursuing postgraduate studies and yet gathering a vocation successful academia successful Los Angeles, Zand exposed connected her substack "Iran So Far Away" — a trajectory that stands successful stark opposition to the ideology his parent helped articulate to the world. 

For Zand, this is not an anecdote oregon an isolated irony, but a model into however the strategy itself functions.

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"They instrumentality the wealth from corruption wrong the state and usage it to unrecorded a amended beingness elsewhere," she said. "It’s not a fewer cases. It’s however they operate."

What Zand is describing is wide referred to wrong Iran arsenic the "aghazadeh" phenomenon, a word utilized for the children of the Iranian regime’s elite who unrecorded lives of privilege overseas portion their families enforce ideological restrictions astatine home, and who person travel to symbolize for galore Iranians the spread betwixt the regime’s rhetoric and its reality.

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Former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami (L) gives a certificate of appreciation to starring reformist person Saeed Hajjarian during the yearly legislature of the Islamic Iran Participation Front successful Tehran December 4, 2008.  (Caren Firouz/Reuters)

A three-tier web wrong the West

Exiled Iranian writer Mehdi Ghadimi, present based successful Canada, argues that this improvement is structured. 

"When we speech astir the beingness of agents of the Islamic Republic, particularly the IRGC, present successful Canada, we should recognize this is not random," Ghadimi told Fox News Digital. "It operates successful layers."

The strategy functions arsenic a three-tiered operation that allows regime-linked individuals to embed themselves crossed Western societies, according to Ghadimi, opening with those who get arsenic students and academics, often presenting themselves arsenic mean immigrants portion maintaining ties to the authorities oregon its information apparatus.

"They travel arsenic students oregon professors," helium said, "but galore person anterior connections to the IRGC, and portion of their relation is to normalize the Islamic Republic successful universities and stitchery accusation connected activists."

A billboard depicting Iran's ultimate leaders since 1979: (L to R) Ayatollahs Ruhollah Khomeini (until 1989), Ali Khamenei (until 2026), and Mojtaba Khamenei (incumbent) is displayed supra a road successful Tehran connected March 10, 2026. Iran marked the assignment of Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei to regenerate his begetter arsenic its ultimate person connected March 9, 2026.  (AFP/Via Getty Images)

That class includes individuals identified successful caller reporting crossed U.S. campuses, specified arsenic Leila Khatami, girl of erstwhile Iranian President Mohammad Khatami astatine Union College successful New York, Zeinab Hajjarian, the girl of Saeed Hajjarian, a laminitis of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence, astatine the University of Massachusetts Lowell, according to a March 18 New York Post report.

The 2nd layer, Ghadimi explained, is financial, consisting of erstwhile insiders and trusted affiliates who participate Western countries arsenic investors oregon concern figures, often carrying important superior that raises questions astir its origin.

"In Iran, a monthly wage mightiness beryllium $100 oregon $200, portion an flat costs $100,000," helium said. "So erstwhile idiosyncratic arrives with millions, they are not an mean individual."

These individuals, helium said, often service arsenic conduits for moving wealth retired of Iran, operating nether the screen of backstage endeavor portion maintaining ties to the strategy that enabled their wealth. "They alteration their nonrecreational presumption and participate arsenic private-sector investors," helium said. "But they are trusted by the system."

The 3rd furniture involves individuals who person explicit support from the authorities to determination ample sums abroad, a process that, according to Ghadimi, requires a "green light" from the information apparatus and often comes with expectations successful return. "In bid to determination that level of money, you request permission," helium said, "and successful return, they assistance concern networks connected to the regime."

A pistillate holds an Iranian emblem during the ceremonial and burial of Ali Shamkhani astatine Imamzadeh Saleh successful bluish Tehran, Iran, connected March 14, 2026. (Majid Saeedi/Getty Images)

One of the astir salient examples is Mahmoud Reza Khavari, the erstwhile president of Bank Melli Iran, who fled the state successful 2011 aft the slope was implicated successful a astir $2.6 cardinal embezzlement scandal, 1 of the largest corruption cases successful Iran’s history.

Khavari aboriginal settled successful Canada, wherever nationalist reporting shows that helium and his household acquired millions of dollars successful existent estate, including properties successful Toronto, wherever helium remains much than a decennary later.

For Zand, the signifier is unmistakable. 

"It’s a mafia structure," she said.

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Ali Larijani, addresses a property league successful Tehran, Iran. Larijani, a apical Iranian information authoritative and a blimpish unit wrong Iran’s theocracy, was killed successful an Israeli onslaught connected March 17, 2026. (Henghameh Fahimi/AFP via Getty Images)

A planetary footprint: from Atlanta to London

As antecedently reported by Fox News Digital, Fatemeh Ardeshir-Larijani, the girl of elder Iranian governmental fig Ali Larijani and a blimpish unit wrong Iran’s theocracy, who was killed successful an Israeli onslaught this week, held a presumption astatine Emory University’s Winship Cancer Institute successful Atlanta earlier leaving earlier this twelvemonth pursuing nationalist pressure.

At the aforesaid time, a February 2026 study by The Guardian highlighted however relatives of Iranian elites person built lives not lone successful the United States, but besides successful Britain and Canada, including members of the Larijani household and relatives of different elder officials, adjacent arsenic the authorities continues to presumption itself successful absorption to the West.

Thousands of relatives of Iranian officials were believed to beryllium surviving crossed Western countries, IranWire reported successful 2022, though precise figures stay hard to independently verify, underscoring some the standard of the improvement and the opacity of the strategy down it.

"The occupation is adjacent much disposable successful Europe," Aarabi said, "Governments, not slightest the U.K., person turned a unsighted eye."

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In this representation obtained from Iran's ISNA quality agency, Mojtaba Khamenei, lad of Iran's ultimate person Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, looks connected successful Tehran connected October 13, 2024.  (Hamed JAFARNEJAD / ISNA / AFP via Getty Images)

Power, assets and the adjacent generation

Mojtaba Khamenei, who is slated arsenic the country’s caller ultimate leader, has been linked to a web of overseas assets, including high-value existent property successful Europe. 

A March 2026 probe by The Times of London, identified 2 luxury apartments successful London’s Kensington neighborhood, acquired successful 2014 and 2016 done intermediaries, that beryllium straight adjacent to the Israeli Embassy compound.

The findings are portion of a broader probe into Khamenei’s alleged overseas holdings, with a Bloomberg probe estimating a portfolio spanning aggregate countries and totaling astir $138 cardinal successful assets crossed Europe and the Gulf, pending verification of afloat ownership structures.

"He has been operating down the scenes, managing a ample portion of the Revolutionary Guard’s information and economical cartel," Ghadimi said. "His hands are profoundly stained with corruption and crimes, and the aforesaid Revolutionary Guard is present the main unit backing his rise."

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A idiosyncratic holds an representation of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei arsenic Iranian demonstrators protestation against the U.S.-Israeli strikes, successful Tehran, Iran, Feb. 28, 2026.  (Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters)

A strategy Iranians themselves cannot escape

Inside Iran, the opposition with mundane beingness is stark. Women are arrested for violating formal codes, protesters are jailed and economical hardship has deepened crossed overmuch of the population. Outside Iran, the children of the elite unrecorded differently.

"They’re telling radical however to live, what to wear, what to believe," Zand said. "But their ain families don’t unrecorded similar that."

For her, the contented is not lone hypocrisy, but strategy. "It’s besides astir influence," she said. "They integrate into societies, they physique networks, they larn however the West works."

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Pro-government demonstrators pain an American emblem astatine Tehran University, connected June 19, 2009 successful Tehran, Iran.  (Getty Images)

Aarabi believes Western governments person failed to respond accordingly. "The Islamic regime’s oligarchs should beryllium treated nary otherwise from Putin’s oligarchs," helium said. "The West should identify, authorisation and deport these individuals."