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He is one of Iran’s most senior defense and national security officials and a confidant of the supreme leader. Until recently, he oversaw nuclear talks with the United States and has also shepherded the enforcement of strict Islamic rules on women and girls and ordered violent crackdowns on protesters. Now, however, Rear Adm. Ali Shamkhani is embroiled in a type of scandal seldom seen among the Islamic Republic’s top echelon. He is accused of leading a double life: preaching piety in public but practicing an altogether different lifestyle with his family. On Saturday, a video of his daughter’s wedding taken last April was leaked, and it quickly went viral online. In the video, Admiral Shamkhani is seen walking his daughter down the aisle into a wedding hall. The bride, Setayesh, is wearing a low-cut, strapless dress that shows her cleavage, and the admiral’s wife is wearing a similarly revealing blue lace evening gown with bare back and sides. Other women in the video are not wearing the hijab. It is a display of exuberant wealth when most Iranians are struggling to get by and many young people can’t afford to get married; it shows disregard for conservative Islamic values; and it depicts Western-style wedding traditions, with the father walking the bride down the aisle instead of the Iranian practice of the bride and groom entering together. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? Log in. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
