The privileged children of Iran’s ruling elite are thriving in the U.S., even as the regime back home violently suppresses protests, prompting many Iranians in California and elsewhere to demand their expulsion.
Two compelling online petitions are gaining traction, asking the U.S. government to swiftly deport Eissa Hashemi and Fatemeh Ardeshir Larijani, offspring of current and former Iranian officials who enjoy a comfortable life in America, starkly different from the harsh reality in Tehran.
Eissa Hashemi, 43, is the son of Masoumeh Ebtekar, infamously known as “Screaming Mary,” a controversial figure who participated in the 1979 U.S. Embassy hostage crisis, where 52 Americans were held captive for 444 days.
Ebtekar has been remembered for her attempts to manipulate the narrative during that crisis, urging hostages to portray their dire experiences positively.
Traumatized former hostage Michael Metlinko once remarked, “If she started a fire in the street, I wouldn’t yell at her to put it out.”
Hashemi went on to graduate from Tehran University in 2006 and appears to have relocated to the U.S. in 2010 to pursue a Ph.D. in Organizational Leadership at the Chicago School in Los Angeles. He currently works as an adjunct professor there, enjoying freedoms that his mother helped take away from American diplomats years ago.
Records indicate he resides in Agoura Hills, California, but he did not reply to requests for comment.
Next is Fatemeh Ardeshir Larijani, daughter of Ali Larijani, a prominent former speaker of Iran’s parliament and the current secretary of Iran’s Supreme Council for National Security.
Her father is closely aligned with Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, who has labeled the United States as the “great devil.” After President Trump encouraged Iranians to continue protesting, Larijani spoke out against her government’s oppressive actions and condemned the “senseless killings of protesters.”
She referred to both Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as “the main murderers of the Iranian people.”
Ardeshir Larijani, 40, lives in Atlanta, Georgia, a world away from the policies her father enforces against the West—policies that often culminate in threats against America.
She is an assistant professor of hematology and medical oncology at Emory University, enjoying a life removed from Iran’s harsh human rights violations.
Similarly, she did not respond to inquiries regarding the situation.
Mercede Shahinkar, who was injured during a women’s rights protest in Iran, expressed her outrage, stating, “Why are these people given visas?”
Shahinkar questioned their ability to live freely in America, arguing that if they find comfort under their home regime, they should return to Iran.
The Change.org petition asserts that allowing these relatives to remain is an insult to both the American public and Iranians suffering under tyranny.
“We, the people of Iran, demand the deportation of these people,” it states, highlighting their privilege against the backdrop of their families’ oppressive rule. The petition, initiated by Iranian Etihad on January 11 and 12, has already amassed tens of thousands of signatures.
The White House has yet to respond to requests for clarity on whether any actions may be taken regarding the relatives of the Iranian officials.
