Which Islamic Republic officials' children live in America? Larijani and Rouhani's brother are at the top
Continuing Fox News' reports about the presence of families of Islamic Republic officials in the United States, the network wrote: "Several children of current and former Iranian officials live in the United States, including Ali Fereydoun, son of Hossein Fereydoun, brother and special assistant to Rouhani, and Fatemeh Ardeshir Larijani, daughter of Ali Larijani, speaker of the parliament."
"Many ordinary Iranians are surprised and feel betrayed by the fact that the children of regime officials are living and working in the United States," Saeed Ghasemi-nejad, a researcher at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington think tank, told Fox News.
He added: "Regime officials chant "Death to America," but they send their own children to the United States, a place far away from the hell they themselves have created in Iran over the past four decades."
Fox News did not provide further information about the cities they live in or the immigration status of Ali Fereydoun and Fatemeh Ardeshir Larijani, and it is not clear from its report whether they are in the United States on green cards or have American citizenship and passports.
In recent weeks, some people on social media have published the names of the children of other officials living in the United States. They are mainly the children of middle-ranking officials and members of parliament.
Reflection of Zolnoor's words
In its report, the network quoted Mojtaba Zolnour, a representative of Qom in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, as saying that during the JCPOA nuclear negotiations, the United States granted American citizenship to 2,500 Iranians, including the families of officials. This claim was met with a reaction from the Obama administration's State Department spokesman.
Zolnour, who is considered an opponent of Hassan Rouhani's government, claimed in a statement published in the Fars News Agency nearly a week ago 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 whose children would benefit from these privileges.
However, Fox News wrote that there is no indication that these individuals in the JCPOA story have received US citizenship, and it is not clear whether Zolnour means citizenship or a green card.
The network also published the response of Marie Harf, the US State Department spokesperson in the Barack Obama administration, who said that Zolnour's words were nonsense.
Source: Voice of America
