It was hard not to pay some attention to the photos posted by the Rich Kids of  Tehran (RKOT) on Instagram or Facebook. Who are they? What are they trying to do? Is this really Tehran? Are they really Iranians? The photos were more of a surprise for non-Iranians who have no idea about the level of material wealth of some people and their Western lifestyle in the so called troubled part of the world.

The reaction toward these postings from some Iranians have been very cynical. Poverty, prostitution, and crime are in many parts of the world. I don’t think we should use them to discredit the people who are behind these postings or ignore the impact they have had in the world in such short span of time. The Rich Kids of Tehran versus IRI not the poor kids of Iran.  Here are some of the headlines:

Iran blocks 'Rich Kids of Tehran' Instagram account

"The account showcased young Iranians flaunting their material goods and featured young men and women in flagrant violation of Iran's laws on alcohol and modesty."

"Controversial “Rich Kids Of Tehran” Instagram Account Abruptly Deletes Photos"

"Rich Kids of Tehran, which depicted the lifestyle of affluent youth in Iran, gained nearly 100,000 followers in less than a month. But all photos were removed and activity ceased this morning with little explanation."

"The "Rich Kids of Tehran" Don't Want Their Conspicuous Wealth to Give You the Wrong Impression"

"Rich Kids of Tehran, the Iranian Instagram page which gained wide attention in international media, appears to have been shut down"

"The following message appeared on the Rich Kids’ Instagram yesterday:" 
 

“We Love our city of Tehran. We are in no way trying to put a difference between rich and poor. We are trying to show the world how beautiful Tehran and people from Tehran are. The Middle East is always on TV receiving negative attention and we just wanted to show that Tehran is not like that. This page is in no way political and we never had any bad intentions. We never thought the page would make headlines all over the world. Some of the people featured in this Instagram account don’t live in Iran.”

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I think we all can agree RKOT photos are daring and that they challenge the mandatory moral standard of their country. And since the government in Iran is a religious fundamentalist, political status quo is just as important as moral status quo. RKOT are rubbing it in.  The photos are bold and the people behind them have enough courage to put themselves and their family in the public arena.

But are these ‘kids’ really on their own? Not really. On their own they are as powerless as the rest of the kids of their generation who will get arrested for breaching the IRI moral codes,  get the lashes or detentions. The photos, however indicate strongly that society and culture are changing in Iran. Especially shifting of power, loyalty and alliances.  As innocent as they sound in their responses to media, they would not have exposed themselves in social media if they knew they were going to be harmed by IRI.  And this is not due to their good looks, or expensive cars and Rolex watches but their influence and wealth within the wider society. These ‘kids’ have taken a calculating risk by taking advantage of the vulnerability of the IRI during its worst fiscal crisis ever. At such harsh economic sanctions whoever brings home the dough is king and deserves some respect.

Most Iranians feel misrepresented by IRI. Recent travels to Iran by foreigners reveal that truth.  Iranians are involuntarily confined and defined by a government with a set political and religious agenda. Yet most travel narratives on Iran, in the last decade at least, have been kind to people, separating them from their government.  Iranian people for the first time are selling themselves as soon as there is an opportunity and they are very good salespeople too. They communicate their screeds and grievances and criticize their government and do not hold anything back. They talk to the tourists and show them hospitality that is warm and genuine and then they deliberately distance themselves from IRI as if their country has been captured by a foreign force.

RKOT as filthy rich as they are have managed on one hand to defy the moral laws of their fundamentalist government and on the other show the world, that the Middle East is a complex region, particularly Iran.  Middle East in the eyes of the world, especially  people in the West is a cursed territory, is a lost cause. It is more trouble than it’s worth. They do not want their sons, brothers, husbands or fathers to go there to fight.  They don’t see an end to the conflicts and they don’t want to be involved.

Unlike most Iranians in diaspora who have managed to become a citizen or resident of another country, TRKOT may have only one country to identify with and that’s the country they live in. Good or bad it’s their birthplace, where they have grown up and perhaps tend to live for the rest of their lives. And they have decided to tell a different narrative that the West is not familiar with and is not interested to show. Thanks to the free availability of social media TRKOT have successfully communicated their message very quickly and effectively which probably even surprised them. Any narrative that is different to the narrative of IRI is worth communicating. IRI and their religious dogma have narrated the story of Iran right to the end of the world. Their primitive and eschatological interpretation of the world is the only interpretation of the world.  They don’t have the courage to stand on their own feet and face the world as it is and allow other people to make up their own mind about their lives and the meaning of it. They are so scared that others may find more meaning in life than their religious precepts can allow.

I don’t think the postings of “RKOT will have a long term impact.  Sunni, Jewish and Shiite fundamentalism are on the rise, they all feed on each other like parasites. One give rise to another, one falls the other is resurrected and the vicious cycle continues. Nevertheless RKOT for a brief period has shifted the attention to something entirely different and that has surprised many.