Before the 1979 Revolution in Iran, one of the main grievances against the Pahlavi dynasty and Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was nepotism. The charge was largely true. The Shah, his family, and a small clique of supporters and puppets — consisting of a few hundred families — controlled the vast resources of the state. It was said at that time that Iran was being ruled by “a thousand families.”…after the 1979 Revolution took down the Shah and most of his cronies, the hope among Iranians was that nepotism would be uprooted in Iran, or at the very least greatly diminished. So long as Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, was living, that was more or less the case…While nepotism is [now] rampant in Iran, no powerful dynasty has emerged over the past 30 years. Ayatollah Khamenei is reportedly grooming his son Mojtaba to succeed him, but it remains to be seen whether that will materialize. Even the position of the Supreme Leader, the backbone of Iran’s political system, stands on shaky ground at the very moment. Rafsanjani’s family and relatives have been influential, but none has the stature to succeed him. No one in his clan is likely to wield the same level of power and influence….In terms of dynasty, there has been a sole exception, and that is the Larijanis.
