December 21, 2018
The great-grandson of the ascetic leader of the 1979 revolution, Ayatollah Rohollah Khomeini, is under attack for living a life of luxury.
Ahmad Khomeini, 21, who recently received the turban of a clergyman, has been ridiculed for a photo showing him at an equestrian club in fashionable sunglasses and a Nike sweatshirt standing next to a young woman in a riding helmet. The woman recently became his wife. She is the great-granddaughter of the late Grand Ayatollah Moham-mad-Reza Golpayegani, a close associate of Khomeini’s famous great grandfather.
The younger Khomeini is being assailed as no different from the spoiled children of many other prominent Iranian families of the establishment, especially those that intermarry to preserve wealth and status.
Persian-language social-media have condemned the young Khomeini for a “luxury horse-riding hobby” far out of the reach of most Iranians—especially since the collapse of the rial in recent months.
The editor in chief of the conservative daily Khorasan, Mohammad-Said Ahadian, said the photo has damaged the reputation of the elder Khomeini, who lived a simple life, he said, to demonstrate sympathy for the poor. Ahadian didn’t explain why he thought anyone would visit the sins of the great grandson on the great grandfather.
Ahadian called on Ahmad Khomeini’s father, Hassan Khomeini, who is firmly in the Reformist political camp, to denounce his son’s behavior or leave Ayatollah Khomeini’s legacy in someone else’s hands.
The head of the political desk of the Moj news agency described Ahmad Khomeini as a “luxury aghazadeh,” a term of derision that Iranians routinely use to describe children of the elite who are believed to benefit significantly from privileged connections and family ties.
“Your behavior is not Khomeini-like. You have nothing in common with [Ayatollah] Khomeini; you only carry his name,” Amir Tohid Fazel tweeted. “The Imam that we knew would not be horseback riding at the height of people’s problems.”
It didn’t appear that Ahmad Khomeini was horseback riding. It was his wife who was dressed for such activity.
Ahmad Khomeini, who has more than 650,000 Instagram followers, reacted to the criticism by saying his financial situation was not “special,” that he doesn’t own a horse and is not familiar with “such sports.” He suggested those feeding the controversy were actually targeting his Reformist father, who was barred in 2016 by the hardline Guardians Council from running for the Assembly of Experts.
The popularity among Iranians of social media has encouraged greater scrutiny of Khomeini’s heirs, including his 15 grandchildren, some of whom have been called out over their lifestyles or their political views, especially those with ties to the Reform camp.
There was also criticism last month by the daily Shahrvand, which described Ahmad Kho-meini’s wedding as exhibiting the excesses of the monarchial era.
His wife’s great-grandfather was proposed as the successor to Ayatollah Khoemii in 1989, but he was voted down in part because he was 100 years old.