Citizenship Rights to Children Born to Iranian Mothers and Non-Iranian Fathers

The citizenship of offspring born to Iranian mothers and non-Iranian fathers is one of the challenges of Iranian law. Despite the passing of Article 976 of the Iranian Civil Code which governs Iranian citizenship to offspring of Iranian women who are married to non-Iranian men, this law which was ratified in 1385, has remained uncompromised until now. The majority of such marriages is often characterised by one or more of the following conditions: the marriage is not registered in an official bureau; the foreign father does not hold any citizenship; or the parents do not reside in Iran. As a result, the implementation of the law can present considerable challenges and, in any case, the law cannot be implemented fairly. Thus the following question arises: what nationality should such children acquire, children whose parents ignored the impending realities of a mixed marriage and whose mothers did not consider the implications and the potential conflict resulting from marriage to a foreign national? More research is currently being conducted on the nationality of offspring born to Iranian mothers and non- Iranian fathers, as well as on the concepts of nationality, dual nationality and statelessness. The present article attempts to find solutions to the problem of such children’s status as stateless citizens. Taking into consideration Iran’s obligation to international law, the writers propose some amendments to the Iranian civil code.