Country Position Paper: Statelessness in Iran foundlings. Moreover, Article 976(4) allows children born inside Iran to foreign parents to acquire Iranian nationality even if neither parent has Iranian nationality, provided that one parent was also born inside Iran and that both child and parent born in Iran have registered births - a rule known as “double jus soli”. It is not evident, however, whether this provision includes children born inside Iran to stateless parents, because the Nationality Law “refers to those with foreign nationality or foreign nationals, thus not including the stateless.”30 A child born in Iran to stateless or foreign parents who are not, themselves, also born in Iran is not able to acquire Iranian nationality, even if the child would otherwise be stateless. This is, for example, the main barrier to second generation Afghan refugee children acquiring Iranian nationality. Moreover, the application in practice of the double jus soli rule may be problematic due to lack of access to civil registration and therefore the absence of proof of birth in Iran of both the child and the parents. 3.3 Acquisition of Nationality Through Naturalisation or Marriage According to Article 979 of the Nationality Law, a person can obtain Iranian nationality if they have reached the age of 18 and have resided in Iran for at least five years (whether continuously or intermittently). 31 In addition, they must not have deserted military service or have been “convicted of non-political major misdemeanours or felonies in any country.” In order to apply for naturalisation, applications “must be submitted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs directly or through the Governors or Governors-General”, according to Article 983.32 The application must be accompanied by the following documents: i) “certified copies of identity documents of the applicant, his wife and children”, ii) “a certificate from the police stating the period of residence of the applicant in Iran, his clean record, and possession of sufficient property or of employment, which ensures a livelihood.” The acceptance of the application remains at the discretion of the Council of Ministers and the Government, who, if the application is approved, will then issue a document certifying nationality to the applicant. Article 976(6) states that a woman of foreign nationality, who marries an Iranian man, will be granted Iranian nationality.33 Thus, an Iranian man can confer his nationality to his foreign spouse through marriage, without recourse to the regular provisions for naturalisation, even when there are no children involved. In contrast, according to Article 980, Iranian women might be able to pass on their nationality to their foreign spouse if they have children together.34 However, Article 980 clearly states that conferral of nationality in these circumstances is strictly at the discretion of the Council of Ministers and “provided that the Government considers their naturalization to Iranian nationality to be advisable”. It is not clear how this rule is implemented in practice. 35 The new Bill amending the Nationality Law for children of Iranian women married to foreign men states that once nationality 30 Dr Jason Tucker, Exploring Statelessness in Iran, 2014, at 1.3.1, available at: https://www.academia.edu/7156718/Exploring_Statelessness_and_Nationality_in_Iran. 31 Iran Nationality Law, Article 979. 32 Iran Nationality Law, Article 983 33 Iranian Nationality Law, Article 976 (6). 34 Iranian nationality law, Article 980: “Those opting for Iranian nationality who have rendered services or notable assistance to public interests in Iran, or who have Iranian wives by whom they have children, or who have attained high intellectual distinctions or who have specialised in affairs of public interest may be accepted as nationals of the Islamic Republic of Iran without the observance of the requirement of residence, subject to the sanction of the Council of Ministers and provided that the Government considers their naturalisation to Iranian nationality to be advisable.” 35 Note that an Iranian woman married to a foreign national maintains her Iranian nationality unless her husband’s nationality is imposed on her by marriage under the laws of the husband’s country of nationality. According to Article 987, she will re-acquire her original nationality after the death of her husband or after divorce. Iranian Civil Code, Book 2 On Nationality, Article 987. 8