The release of a video from the wedding ceremony of the daughter of Ali Shamkhani, the former secretary of the Supreme National Security Council and a current member of the Islamic Republic's Defense Council, triggered widespread reactions on social media, with many users criticizing the double lives and hypocrisy of Islamic Republic officials.
The video was posted on Saturday evening, the 26th of Mehr, on a user's X account, and its details — from the lavish decor of the hall to the absence of hijab among some guests and the wedding dress worn by Shamkhani's daughter — drew the attention of many users.
A large number of critics pointed out that while Islamic Republic officials ask the public to endure the economic hardship and livelihood difficulties caused by sanctions, mismanagement, and the economic corruption present in Iran, they themselves lead extravagant, costly lives.
According to reports from media inside Iran, the ceremony was held in Farvardin 1403 (spring 2024) at the Espinas Palace Hotel in Tehran, one of the country's most expensive hotels.
In Ordibehesht 1403 (spring 2024), Moeinuddin Saeedi, then the parliamentary representative for Chabahar, criticized this ceremony in an interview with the Jamaran website, without directly naming Shamkhani, saying: “Just a few nights ago, one of the country's former senior officials held his daughter's ceremony at the Espinas Palace Hotel — a place where the morality police ought to have gone in to check on the managers.”
At the time, the newspaper Arman-e Melli, in a report titled “Controversy Over a Wedding at the Espinas Parsian Hotel!,” cited an estimate that holding a wedding celebration at the Espinas Hotel would cost around 1.4 billion tomans, and, referencing Shamkhani's past statements about frugality and simple living, wrote: “Holding the wedding at the Parsian hotel contradicts Shamkhani's earlier claims.”
Before the release of this video, an image of the wedding invitation card for Shamkhani's daughter had already circulated on social media and made news. The card listed the wedding date as the 30th of Farvardin 1403, at the Espinas Hotel.
Criticism of Shamkhani's Hypocrisy
The style in which Shamkhani's daughter's wedding was held drew the attention of many users — including a scene in which Shamkhani, as the bride's father, takes his daughter's hand and walks her into the hall.
Many users believe this gesture is reminiscent of wedding customs in Western countries, even as the Islamic Republic constantly emphasizes, in its official propaganda, its distance from Western culture and its devotion to Islamic rites.
The matter of hijab has also been one of the most controversial aspects of the ceremony. The presence of women without mandatory hijab in front of Ali Shamkhani and his son-in-law stands in stark contradiction to the Islamic Republic's official policies.
Users have criticized a system that does not tolerate this same style of dress for ordinary citizens, and that has, on numerous occasions, shut down cafes, restaurants, and event halls for failing to observe mandatory hijab.
The official Persian-language Instagram page of Israel's Foreign Ministry, while sharing images from the wedding ceremony of Shamkhani's daughter, wrote: “So the morality police and mandatory hijab are only for ordinary Iranians?”
Domestic Media Reaction to the Wedding Video and Speculation Over the Reason for Its Release
Daneshjoo News Agency, affiliated with the Basij organization, wrote on Sunday, the 27th of Mehr, referring to the release of images from this wedding ceremony: “The importance of this matter should be clear to figures such as these, so that they guard the veil of their privacy in such a way that such alarming incidents at this level do not occur.”
The outlet added: “The release of a video such as this, involving the mixing of mahram [close relatives permitted contact] and na-mahram [unrelated individuals] and his presence there, could have serious consequences.”
Daneshjoo News Agency stressed that this raises the question, for the public, of how officials of the Islamic Republic are unable to “maintain the separation of mahram and na-mahram” around themselves and in their own presence, while urging everyone else to observe hijab, and that “Shamkhani, or any other individual within the establishment, must be held accountable.”
Mehr News Agency, affiliated with the Islamic Propagation Organization, also wrote on Sunday, referring to the release of the wedding video of Shamkhani's daughter, that for those familiar with his background, the notion of mere carelessness regarding the release of this video seems strange.
This outlet, affiliated with the Islamic Propagation Organization, added that the release of this video is not “necessarily well-intentioned,” and that officials of the Islamic Republic establishment should be mindful of their own conduct and that of those around them, so that their behavior does not create costs for the system.
A technical expert who reviewed this video told Iran International that, at first glance, one notices other mobile-phone cameras filming inside the wedding hall, and that toward the end of the video, a woman holding a mobile phone that appears to be recording waves at the camera. According to him, given this, a simple review of this footage, together with the videos shot by the ceremony's official videographers, would make it easy to identify whoever was in possession of the video that was released.
This source, who asked not to be named, added: “Such an identification, from the moment security forces close to Shamkhani decide to act until the result is achieved, would take no more than a few hours. Given that, why would anyone take such a risk? Let us not forget that the guests at this ceremony were people whose presence circles close to the establishment considered safe.”
Hesamodin Ashna, an advisor to Hassan Rouhani during his presidency, referring to the release of the wedding video of Shamkhani's daughter, wrote: “This is not the time for blind exposés; safeguarding Iran's resilience today depends on protecting national unity around the leadership.”
The Shamkhani Family's Economic Corruption
Economic corruption within the Shamkhani family has made news in past years, drawing attention even from media inside Iran.
The newspaper Arman-e Melli, in last year's report about Shamkhani's daughter's wedding, wrote on this same subject that in 1398 (2019), rumors surfaced about the Shamkhani family, including that the university tuition of Hossein Shamkhani in Lebanon cost $10,000.
This report also referenced other news indicating that Ali Shamkhani's nephews, Maoud Shamkhani and Mohammad Hadi Shamkhani, were employed at the Islamic Republic's embassy in Russia and at the Arvand Free Zone Organization.