Sky News published a report on April 19 about the children of Iran’s ruling elites, who are known as “Aghazadehs” and, as people call them, “parasite-born.”
The decision by the government of Dominica to revoke the citizenship of one of the children of Iranian regime officials, Abolfazl Shamkhani, son of Ali Shamkhani, a senior official and former secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, has revealed a new dimension of financial influence networks through which the children of Iran’s ruling elites are believed to manage vast sums of money abroad; this comes amid growing accusations that they serve as fronts for managing wealth linked to the Iranian regime and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Revocation of Abolfazl Shamkhani’s citizenship by Dominica
Dominica’s decision to revoke Shamkhani’s citizenship came after he was accused of concealing key information when applying for what is known as a golden passport. An investigation by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project found that he had obtained citizenship under the alias Sami Haik before the data manipulation was exposed and his citizenship was subsequently revoked.
According to observers, this incident is part of a broader phenomenon in Iran known as the “Aghazadeh”—the children of elites—who are accused of running complex financial networks abroad, including investments, companies, and banking fronts across multiple countries.
Controversial estimates suggest that the volume of funds linked to the children of Iranian elites abroad may reach $148 billion; according to a previous statement by Mahmoud Bahmani, former governor of the Iranian regime’s Central Bank, who said that the children of elites hold $148 billion in foreign bank accounts and added that about 5,000 of them live outside Iran.
U.S. sanctions
In a related development, recent U.S. sanctions against Hassan Shamkhani, another of these individuals, have provided further indications of what Washington describes as the intertwining of financial interests between influential families and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, particularly in the oil, petrochemical, and port sectors.
Sanctions records indicate that the two Shamkhani brothers run a shipping conglomerate that, according to U.S. allegations, serves as a central hub in transporting Iranian oil.
The U.S. Department of Justice also announced on March 6, 2026, the filing of two civil forfeiture actions targeting assets worth more than $15.3 million, describing them as part of a network led by Hossein Shamkhani that launders Iranian oil revenues through international entities.
A parallel government beyond borders
These networks have evolved into something resembling a parallel government run by the children of ruling elites—individuals who have transformed from a privileged social class into a financial backbone that, according to these allegations, is used to fund political and military influence beyond Iran’s borders.
In this context, reports point to indirect roles played by certain figures within the inner circle of power, including Mojtaba Khamenei, son of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Media reports, including those by Bloomberg, point to his ownership or management of investment and real estate networks abroad, including assets in London and across Europe, managed through intermediary companies.
Ali Ansari is also cited as one of the most prominent financial figures in this system, through managing companies believed to be used to conceal the true ownership of assets linked to the regime.
Extensive networks and multiple fronts
The U.S. Treasury has also sanctioned financial institutions and exchange companies that it says have played a role in transferring tens of millions of dollars to benefit the IRGC Quds Force through multilayered financial networks.
In this regard, experts told Sky News Arabia that Tehran uses an organized strategy to manage money abroad, relying on the use of elite children as financial fronts, enabling the transfer of oil and petrochemical revenues outside the country beyond the reach of international sanctions oversight.
The gap between rhetoric and reality
On the other hand, an Iranian researcher believes that the phenomenon of elite children reflects a growing gap between the regime’s rhetoric and economic and social realities, adding that this phenomenon has become a tool for circumventing Western sanctions.
In an interview with the Sky News Arabia website, the researcher said that the financial class of Iranian elites’ children enter Western countries as investors or businessmen, often bringing substantial capital. These individuals act as channels for transferring money out of Iran and operate under the cover of private projects while maintaining their ties to the system that enabled their wealth accumulation.
He added that these individuals also contribute to supporting Iran’s influence in the countries where they are present and back its regional proxies, creating a complex network that is difficult to trace and is used to circumvent sanctions and transfer oil and petrochemical revenues.
The policy of transferring money abroad and managing it through the children of regime officials stems from their understanding of the risks posed by public discontent. The so-called elite children, or the offspring of high-ranking officials and IRGC commanders, have become an external economic force through shell companies, real estate, and shipping networks used to bypass sanctions. The regime’s representatives abroad benefit from extensive financial support, while Tehran spends generously to keep conflicts away from its borders, increasing economic pressure inside Iran.
