The Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion and Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights Joint Submission to the Human Rights Council at the 34th Session of the Universal Periodic Review Iran Introduction 1. The Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion (ISI) and Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights make this joint submission to the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), on the right to a nationality and human rights challenges pertaining to statelessness in Iran. 2. This submission focuses on gender discrimination in Iran’s nationality law, the situation of the Baluchi population in the Sistan and Baluchistan Provinces, and challenges related to civil registration, which increase the risk of statelessness in the country. 3. The Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion 1 is an independent non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting an integrated, human rights-based response to the injustice of statelessness and exclusion. Established in August 2014, it is the first and only global centre committed to promoting the human rights of stateless persons and ending statelessness. The Institute has made over 38 country specific UPR submissions on the human rights of stateless persons, and also compiled summaries of the key human rights challenges related to statelessness in all countries under review under the 23rd to the 33rd UPR Sessions. 4. The Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights2 mobilises international action for the removal of gender discriminatory provisions from all nationality laws through its coalition of national and international organisations and activists. Previous UPR of Iran under the First and Second Cycle 5. Iran was previously reviewed during the 7th and 20th sessions of the UPR, in 2010 and 2014 respectively. During the first cycle, Iran received one recommendation by Mexico to “facilitate for all children born to Iranian mothers access to a birth certificate and Iranian nationality, regardless of the nationality of the father”, which it accepted. During the second cycle, Iran noted two recommendations that were relevant to nationality and statelessness. Bosnia and Herzegovina recommended that Iran “take additional steps to improve gender equality and enhance women’s position in marriage, divorce, nationality, custody of children 1 For more information about the Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion, see: www.institutesi.org. 2 For more information about the Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights, see: www.equalnationalityrights.org. 1