Country Position Paper: Statelessness in Iran man).20 How the new rules will be applied in practice was not yet clear at the time of writing. Under the new law, the father also need not be a legal resident of Iran for the child to be eligible for Iranian nationality: the mother can still file for nationality of her child.21 In cases where both parents are deceased, the Bill allows the courts to approve the nationality of the child as long as proof that the mother was an Iranian national can be provided.22 Most importantly, the Bill does not require the consent of the husband, meaning an Iranian woman is able to confer her nationality to her child without this decision being either blocked or contested by her husband.23 The new Bill, like the 2006 Law it amended, still does not afford children born out of wedlock to an Iranian mother and foreign father access to nationality. Nor is it clear whether the difficulties previously reported in relation to the requirement to prove the father’s identity in the form of documentation when registering the birth of a child will be fully addressed by the law and the law is currently silent on the required documentation needed, as well as the administrative procedures on how to apply.24 This will become apparent only in its implementation. The Bill also continues to make the conferral of nationality under this application procedure subject to security checks.25 Iranian woman married to a foreign man can only confer her nationality provided the family are cleared by the Ministry of Intelligence or the Organisation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), who must certify that there are no security issues before nationality can be approved.26 As a result, this leaves children and their families open to increased scrutiny from intelligence agencies in Iran for simply seeking access to a basic right. The same is not true for the conferral of nationality from an Iranian man to his children, which happens automatically and without further conditions.27 As stated above, an individual born to an Iranian mother and a foreign father who has reached the age of 18 years is allowed to directly apply for nationality, however, this is also subject to security clearance from the intelligence agencies.28 3.2 Stateless Children Born in Iran Iranian law does not fully meet international standards on preventing children from being born stateless on its territory.29 Article 976(3) of the Nationality Law provides for the acquisition of Iranian nationality by children “born in Iran of unknown parentage”, allowing nationality to be acquired by 20 The Civil Code of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Article 1059-1060, [online] available at: https://www.wipo.int/edocs/lexdocs/laws/en/ir/ir009en.pdf. As reported by expert consultant on Iran, October 2019. 21 Centre for Human Rights in Iran (2019) New Legislation, If Approved, Will Give Citizenship Rights To Children Born to Iranian Women, available at: https://iranhumanrights.org/2019/05/new-legislation-if-approved-will-give-citizenship-rights-to-children-born-to-iranianwomen/ 22 Ibid. 23 Ibid. 24 As reported by expert consultant on Iran, October 2019. 25 Human Rights Watch (2019) Iran: Parliament Oks Nationality Law Reform, available at: https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/05/14/iran-parliament-oks-nationality-law-reform 26 Inter Press Service (2019) Reforms Will Grant Nationality to Children of Iranian Women, available at: http://www.ipsnews.net/2019/10/reforms-will-grant-nationality-children-iranian-women/ 27 Ibid. See also Centre for Human Rights in Iran (2019) Children Born to Non-Iranian Fathers Win Right to File for Citizenship With A Catch, available at: https://www.iranhumanrights.org/2019/10/children-born-to-non-iranian-fathers-win-right-to-file-for-citizenship-witha-catch/ 28 Inter Press Service (2019) Reforms Will Grant Nationality to Children of Iranian Women, available at: http://www.ipsnews.net/2019/10/reforms-will-grant-nationality-children-iranian-women/ 29 “No measures have been adopted by Iranian Registry Law to ensure the child’s right to acquire a nationality, in particular where the child would otherwise be stateless.” UNICEF. (2005). Birth Registration in Iran: An Analysis of Relevant Laws in Iran Transnational Marriages, Gendered Citizenship, and the Dilemma of Iranian Women Married to Afghan Men. Available at: http://www.unicef.org/iran/IRN_resources_BR_eng-word.pdf, pp. 7-8 7