#GoodGene, A New Way To Criticise Nepotism In Iran

Although the appointment of politicians' children to various positions as a result of family connections is nothing new in Iran, these children are still able to surprise and, owing to social media, are now causing a massive outcry against something which people have been used to for decades.

Social media users, above all on Twitter and then on numerous Telegram channels and groups, reacted so fast and fiercely to the interview of one of these children, that some others began to speak out in his support, which led to the controversy turning even more bitter.

The discussions over being an 'aghazadeh' [which means noble-born] are a way of escaping reality because we are used to blaming someone for our problems. Now they [the people] want to lay the blame on the 'aghazadehs'. Naturally, when my mother and father are successful individuals, that [same] gene and blood will also be transferred to me and so it's not by coincidence that people reach a position. Lineage is not a small thing" 

are the words of the 30-something-year-old son of Mohammad Reza Aref, currently parliamentary leader of reformists' Hope fraction in the Iranian Parliament and First Vice President from 2001 to 2005 under Mohammad Khatami, the former Reformist President.

The new wave of nepotism, this time under the Reformists’ government, has been and is still being criticised through the hashtag which can be translated to #GoodGene.