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Iranians ask government officials: #Where_is_your_kid?

Public calls for Iranian officials to account for the lifestyles of their children bring focus to the issue of the lack of trust in the political establishment.
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They ride fast cars, trot between luxury villas, travel in style and marry supermodels in dream weddings — all of which is followed by thousands on Instagram. Iran’s “aghazadehs” — the half-admiring, half-pejorative moniker meaning "children of influential figures" given to the offspring of the country’s political and bureaucratic elite — have dominated the summer’s agenda in the country. Finally, a social campaign with the hashtag #Where_is_your_kid? demands that elites account for just what their kids have been up to and how at a time when the ordinary people struggle to make ends meet.

The campaign began after the Aug. 8 impeachment of Minister of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare Ali Rabiei. During the impeachment proceedings, parliament member Mohammad Reza Pourebrahimi attacked Deputy Speaker Masoud Pezeshkian as he came to Rabiei’s defense, pointing out that Pezeshkian’s daughter worked at Jam Petrochemical Company, which is affiliated with the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare, and accused her of relying on rentierism for her position.

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