Report on Citizenship Law: Iran married before 133 . Moreover, the foreign husband needs to provide a certificate from his consulate concerning his marital status along with his passport and a valid visa. In addition, a specific permission for such a marriage must be obtained from the Iranian Ministry of Interior134. The Ministry will decide to grant or deny permission upon receipt and examination of required legal documents. Yet again, there is no such requirement for Iranian men unless in cases where they are studying abroad with government scholarships or where they have special positions in foreign affairs135. Traditionally, there has not been significant immigration to Iran with the exception of Iraqi and Afghani refugees. In 1979, the civil war and the political events in Afghanistan resulted in a series of waves of movements of Afghans to Iran as refugees136. The Iraqi refugee population are those Iraqi Shia’a Muslims and Faili Kurds who escaped persecution from the regime of Saddam Hussein in 1980 137 . According to the Bureau for Aliens and Foreign Immigrants Affairs, in 2016, 12,000 Iranian women in Khorasan- the border city- were married to non-Iranian men, mostly Afghans. There was also an estimate of 20,000 children from these marriages. As mentioned above, only legal residents can marry Iranian women with a prior permission from the government. The Bureau also states that, about 3 million Afghans reside in the country, of whom about 1.5 to 2 million are undocumented. That means, they cannot marry Iranian women legally as there will be no permission granted by the State for such marriages 138 . In reality, a large number of these marriages take place only religiously and without registration which will be a problem for obtaining birth certificate for their children139. The official figures indicate that, the majority of the 32,000 children without a birth certificate are those who are born to Iranian mothers and foreign fathers140. 6. Dual Nationality The letter of the Iranian law does not recognise dual nationality. According to Article 989, if an Iranian national acquires a foreign nationality without the observance of the provisions of law (those related to the renunciation of Iranian nationality), their foreign nationality will be considered null and they will be regarded as an Iranian citizen. Nevertheless, all their immovable properties will be confiscated and sold under the supervision of the local Public Prosecutor and the proceeds will be paid to them after the deduction of the expenses of sale. Some legal scholars believe that Article 989 is an abandoned law; An abandoned law is defined as a law that is formally enacted and enforceable, but has not been used during its 133 Civil Code of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 23 May 1928, Art. 1043. Civil Code of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 23 May 1928, Art. 1060. 135 Civil Code of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 23 May 1928, Art. 1061. 136 Fariba Adelkhah., Zuzanna Olszewska, ‘The Iranian Afghans’, Iranian Studies, Vol. 40; Iss.2, p137-165, page 138. 137 Minorities at Risk Project, Chronology for Sunnis in Iraq, 2004, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/469f38a7c.html. 138 Ashraf Zahedi, ‘Transnational Marriages, Gendered Citizenship, and the Dilemma of Iranian Women’ ,Iranian Studies, Vol. 40, No. 2, Afghan Refugees (Apr., 2007), pp. 225-239, page 232. 139 Ashraf Zahedi, ‘Transnational Marriages, Gendered Citizenship, and the Dilemma of Iranian Women’ ,Iranian Studies, Vol. 40, No. 2, Afghan Refugees (Apr., 2007), pp. 225-239, page 232-323. 140 Bureau for Aliens and Foreign Immigrants Affairs (BAFIA), Afghan refugees in Iran, Khorasan Razavi, 2016, available at: https://theiranproject.com/blog/2016/02/16/4000-afghans-seek-citizenship/ . 134 RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2020/13 - © 2020 Author(s) 21