Three-minute read
A recent car accident involving the son of the Iranian regime’s Deputy Parliament Speaker, Ali Nikzad, has ignited public outrage—not because of genuine concern from officials, but because it laid bare the entrenched hypocrisy and internal power struggles of the ruling elite.
On May 25, Mohammad-Hassan Nikzad drove his private vehicle the wrong way down a one-way street near Vanak Square in Tehran and struck Colonel Khisheh, a senior officer in the traffic police. While regime media attempted damage control, claiming the collision was “unintentional” and that legal steps were taken, initial reports from Bulletin News tell a different story: the officer was seriously injured and the driver fled the scene, only to be swiftly released—allegedly after intervention from his powerful father.
Colonel Khisheh, who later gave an interview to the state Police News Agency, appeared eager to downplay the event: “I’m at work, safe and sound… the legal department of FARAJA [State Security Forces] is handling the matter.” He added that both Nikzad and his family had visited the hospital to apologize and “emphasize legal procedures.” But these remarks do little to obscure what has become a routine pattern in the clerical dictatorship: harsh justice for ordinary citizens, impunity for the regime’s inner circle.
Inside Tehran’s Awqaf Organization: Corruption and Nepotism Unveiled#FreeIran2023 https://t.co/t2vZeG3OnD
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) June 30, 2023
According to eyewitness accounts cited by Bulletin News, the vehicle was moving illegally in a dedicated bus lane, and the driver—Nikzad’s son—fled the scene after hitting the officer. No public statement has been made by Parliament, Ali Nikzad, or judiciary officials. In fact, Nikzad was re-elected as Deputy Speaker with 111 votes just one day after the incident—without uttering a single word of accountability.
While a few regime insiders such as political commentator Mohammad Mohajeri criticized Nikzad for failing to publicly apologize, this intramural scolding does not reflect genuine outrage—it reflects factional rivalries among a corrupt and criminal ruling class, each jostling for influence, not justice. These so-called “critics” stayed silent or complicit during previous abuses and are now opportunistically exploiting the scandal for factional gain.
This is not the first time an “aghazadeh“—the privileged child of a regime official—has violated the law without consequence. The memory of Ali-Asghar Anabestani, a former MP who assaulted a police officer during a traffic dispute, remains fresh. In both cases, the regime showed that rules are for the people—not for those in power.
#Iran News in Brief
In another case of nepotism, the son of Ansieh Khazali, Raisi's deputy for women's affairs, has been exposed for selling VPNs to #Iranians and immensely profiting. This has caused a lot of stir in the regime. https://t.co/3VvXxFBKiS pic.twitter.com/HnZCIOzsoc— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) September 14, 2022
The contrast is stark. While regular Iranians are jailed, fined, or even beaten for the smallest infractions—crossing the street during a protest, not observing mandatory hijab, or criticizing officials online—the children of regime elites can break the law, harm public servants, and return home untouched.
No genuine accountability has followed. No independent investigation. No trial. And certainly no apology. What the regime calls “respect for legal procedure” is in fact a thin veil for the impunity that defines Tehran’s dual system of law—one for the ruling class, and another for everyone else.
What this latest incident proves is not just the lawlessness of a single individual—but the systemic rot of a regime that protects its own at all costs while punishing the people it claims to govern.