Report on Citizenship Law: Iran Although it has been said that the two terms have almost the same meaning in practice, it is interesting to know that it is the term tabeiat that is used in the entire Nationality law15. Up to 1764, Iranian people were referred to as subjects of Iran, both domestically and in foreign relations. The word (tabeiat) or citizenship was mentioned for the first time in 1764, in a treaty between Nader Shah Afshar and the Ottoman king, Sultan Mahmud Khan I: “If the citizens of Iran and the Ottomans flee to each other's territory and seek to renounce their citizenship, the States will not accept this new citizenship and hand them over to the other government16.” 2.2. Prior to 1906 Regarding the historical background of the rules on citizenship in Iran, experts believe that up until 1906, there was no comprehensive set of regulations of which textual evidence can be found today. This implies that prior to this date, citizenship regulations were mentioned merely in treaties individually and separately17. For example, in the Treaty of Turkmenchay in 1828, and in the treaty concluded in four terms between the government of Iran and Tsarist Russia in 184418, an agreement was made on the protection of Russian citizens in Iran as well as the rules regarding the treatment of Russian citizens by Iranian government officials. In fact, these treaties recognised the establishment of capitulation. In other words, they had unilaterally granted concessions to Russian citizens without any indication on Iranian citizens or citizenship per se19. Another example of these treaties is the Ottoman-Persian Convention of 1875, signed in Istanbul between Iran and the Ottomans, which discussed the issue of citizenship and its impacts on citizens20. Furthermore, a decree dating back to 1890 by Naser al-Din Shah, a Qajar ruler, mentions that all Iranian women married to foreigners shall revert to being Iranian national after dissolution of their marriage resulting from the death of their husband21. It should be mentioned that, the predominant law prior to the 1906 Iranian Constitution was the Islamic law developed by Shi’a jurists. 15 Civil Code of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 23 May 1928, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/49997adb27.html. 16 ٩٣ ‫ ص‬,١٣٧۵ ,‫ ﮔﻧﺞ داﻧش‬:‫ ﺗﮭران‬,‫ اﻟﻣﻠل ﺧﺻوﺻﻲ ﺣﻘوق ﺑﯾن‬,‫ﺳﯾدﺟﻼل اﻟدﯾن ﻣدﻧﻲ‬. (Seyed Jalaledin Madani, International Private law, Tehran: Ganje Danesh, 1996, page 93). See also: National Library and Archives of I.R.IRAN. Available at: http://www.nlai.ir/exhibition?p_p_id=exhibitionview_WAR_nlaiportlet&p_p_lifecycle=0&p_p_col_id=column1&p_p_col_pos=1&p_p_col_count=2&_exhibitionview_WAR_nlaiportlet_exid=299527. 17 ١٠٠‫ ﺻﻔﺣﮫ‬،١٣٧۵،‫ﻣﺣﻣد ﻧﺻﯾری‬، ‫ﺣﻘوق ﺑﯾن اﻟﻣﻠل ﺧﺻوﺻﯽ‬. (Mohamad Nasiri, International Private Law, Tehran: Agah publication, 1996, page 100). See also: National Library and Archives of I.R.IRAN. Available at:http://www.nlai.ir/exhibition?p_p_id=exhibitionview_WAR_nlaiportlet&p_p_lifecycle=0&p_p_col_id=colu mn-1&p_p_col_pos=1&p_p_col_count=2&_exhibitionview_WAR_nlaiportlet_exid=299527. 18 The agreement was also made to “end the disorder…of the inhabitants of the frontier regions of Russia and Persia who engaged in frequent migration.” Entering each country by the citizens of another country was restricted as stipulated by Article 1 of the treaty. Citizens of each country were required to possess a passport and obtain the permission of their government. Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet, Frontier Fictions: Shaping the Iranian nation,18041946, the US: Princeton University Press, 1999, page 53. 19 Joseph J. St.Marie and Shahdad Naghshpour, Revolutionary Iran and the United States: Low-intensity Conflict in the Persian Gulf, 2011, page 30. ‫ﻣﺣﻣد ﻧﺻﯾری‬، ‫ﺣﻘوق ﺑﯾن اﻟﻣﻠل ﺧﺻوﺻﯽ‬،١٣٧۵، ١٠١‫ص‬. (Mohamad Nasiri, International Private Law, Tehran: Agaah publication, 1996, page 101). 20 Karen Kern, Imperial Citizen: Marriage and Citizenship in the Ottoman Frontier Provinces of Iraq, 2011, pages 99-103. 21 ٩۴‫ ص‬,١٣٧۵ ,‫ ﮔﻧﺞ داﻧش‬:‫ ﺗﮭران‬,‫ اﻟﻣﻠل ﺧﺻوﺻﻲ ﺣﻘوق ﺑﯾن‬,‫ﺳﯾدﺟﻼل اﻟدﯾن ﻣدﻧﻲ‬. (Seyed Jalaledin Madani, International Private law, Tehran: Ganje Danesh, 1996, page 94). RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2020/13 - © 2020 Author(s) 3