Children of Which Islamic Republic Officials Live in America; Larijanis and Rouhani’s Brother Lead the List
Continuing its reports on the presence of families of Islamic Republic officials in America, Fox News wrote: “Several children of current and former Iranian officials live in the United States, including Ali Fridoun, son of Hossein Fridoun, brother and special assistant to Rouhani, and Fatema Ardeshir Larijani, daughter of Ali Larijani, Speaker of Parliament.”
“Saeed Ghassemi Nejad,” a researcher at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, a research institute in Washington, told Fox News: “Many ordinary Iranians are shocked that the children of regime officials live and work in the United States and feel they have been betrayed.”
He added: “Regime officials chant ‘Death to America,’ but send their children to the United States, a place far away from the hell they have created in Iran over the past four decades.”
Fox News did not provide more information about the cities where they live or the immigration status of Ali Fridoun and Fatema Ardeshir Larijani, and it is unclear from the report whether they live in America with a green card or hold U.S. citizenship and passport.
In recent weeks, some have published the names of children of other officials living in America on social media. They are mostly children of mid-level officials and parliamentary representatives.
Echo of Zolnour’s Statements
In its report, the network quoted Mojtaba Zolnour, representative of Qom in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, saying that during the JCPOA nuclear negotiations, America granted citizenship to 2,500 Iranians, including families of officials. A claim that met with a reaction from the spokesman of the State Department in the Obama administration.
Zolnour, who is considered one of the opponents of Hassan Rouhani’s government, claimed nearly a week ago in statements published by FARS News Agency that these citizenships were a favor to Iranian officials associated with Hassan Rouhani, and also claimed that this action caused Iranian officials to compete over which of their children would benefit from these privileges.
However, Fox News wrote that there is no evidence that these individuals received U.S. citizenship in connection with the JCPOA, and it is also unclear whether Zolnour meant citizenship or a green card.
The network also released the reaction of Marie Harf, spokesman for the U.S. State Department in the Barack Obama administration, who said Zolnour’s statements were nonsense.
Source: Voice of America
