Report on Citizenship Law: Iran married to undocumented migrants or refugees at risk of statelessness. Moreover, children born to Iranian mothers and unknown or stateless fathers are not covered by the Amendment. Besides, the position of those born out of wedlock to Iranian mothers and foreign fathers are not addressed neither by the Amendment nor the Supreme Court ruling of 1997. It is also important to note that the nationality of the mother will not be conferred to the child automatically even in cases where according to the Amendment she is able to transfer her nationality. It seems that the Iranian legislature in general, and the government in particular, have been sensitive to the issue of granting Iranian citizenship to children from Afghani and Iraqi men who have married Iranian women. The ongoing and decades-long instability in these countries has discouraged the Iranian government from granting citizenship to the children concerned, as doing so is considered likely to increase immigration to the country. In the eyes of Iranian officials, this could result in a stronger foothold for Iraqi and Afghan men in the country. A number of economic and social problems, some of which are due to the presence of foreign immigrants, have led to social sensitivities along with political and security considerations, which have steered the government's action in restricting the grant of citizenship to these children. This certainly puts the children born to such marriages at risk of statelessness as their fathers are often not able to access services from their own governments. As a result, their children are not granted birth certificates neither in Iran nor elsewhere and, therefore, become stateless. This is in violation of Article 7 of CRC. Moreover, as described above, the law puts women at an unfair disadvantage with respect to their right to transfer their nationality to their spouses (spousal transfer). While the law provides for automatic acquisition of nationality for foreign women married to Iranian men, foreign men married to Iranian women are not even provided with facilitated naturalisation. Ultimately, the findings of this report indicate that the law does not provide for facilitated access to citizenship for stateless children and recognised refugees. Facilitated naturalisation is seen as a tool which can tackle the issue of statelessness when it has already occurred. Similarly, children born in Iran to a foreign parent who resides in the country legally and habitually, are only able to naturalise as Iranian national one year after age of majority which is seen as a deficiency. As Para 17 of the Recommendation 2009/2013147 states, countries should facilitate acquisition of their nationality, before the age of majority, for the children concerned. 147 Council of Europe: Committee of Ministers, Recommendation CM/Rec(2009)13 and explanatory memorandum of the Committee of Ministers to member states on the nationality of children, 9 May 2009, CM/Rec(2009)13. RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2020/13 - © 2020 Author(s) 23