Cold Water from Parliament on the Citizenship Bill for Children of Iranian Mothers

The newspaper Shargh reported on its front page on Monday that Hassan Rouhani announced in an interview with CNN about "indirect negotiations with the United States regarding Syria" and stated: "We do not have direct talks with the U.S. regarding Syria, but we are discussing indirectly through the European Union and the United Nations" and "If we see a serious commitment to implementing the nuclear agreements and the complete lifting of sanctions, perhaps the possibility of dialogue on other issues will also arise." The newspaper quoted Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, as saying: "The priority in Syria is to strengthen the central government to end terrorism and bloodshed, the return of refugees, and political reforms." The Iran newspaper also described "mutual respect and reduction of tension" as Rouhani's message to the U.S. It also reported that the number of Iranians killed in the "Mina" incident during this year's Hajj has been announced as "169 dead, 48 injured, and 307 missing" as of Sunday. The Iran newspaper quoted the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic as saying: "The Saudis must accept their responsibility instead of shifting blame and accusing others, and apologize to the Islamic community and the grieving families." The Law newspaper emphasized on its front page that "we should not turn the Mina tragedy into a political crisis." It wrote: "Some with not very rational and emotional slogans do not resolve any issues but rather exacerbate the tensions and prepare the ground for the stubbornness of the Saudi government. Slogans such as expelling the Saudi ambassador, closing the embassy of this country, or illegal gatherings in front of the buildings related to the Saudi embassies are among the emotional and unprofessional actions that neither solve any problems nor help in addressing the issues of the pilgrims." Saman Saberian reported in the Law newspaper about increasing pressure on Hassan Rouhani, writing: "Some individuals and hardline figures, whose intentions have rarely been interpreted as good, are trying to pressure the diplomatic apparatus and the President, who is in New York, to regret continuing their trip and prevent their success. Groups that cannot tolerate the world's reception of the President's remarks intend to continue personal vendettas against the government by showing Rouhani's indifference to the Mina incidents." The Young newspaper, close to the Revolutionary Guards, severely attacked the Saudi leaders on its front page while publishing the Supreme Leader's remarks about the Mina incident, quoting "authorities" as saying: "The wrongdoers must be kept away from the sanctuary." The Bahar newspaper quoted Ali Akbar Nategh Nouri on its front page as saying: "Obama thought wisely in the negotiations." According to this newspaper, Ali Akbar Nategh Nouri stated in Maragheh: "The U.S. President chose to negotiate with Iran instead of relying on the sheikhdoms." The Etemad newspaper reported on the Parliament's opposition to the generalities of the maternal citizenship bill, describing it as "cold water from Parliament on granting citizenship to the children of Iranian mothers." The Ebtekar newspaper, in a report titled "Seats That Will No Longer Be Empty," compared the rhetoric of Hassan Rouhani and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during their speeches at the United Nations General Assembly, stating: "The discourse of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Rouhani at the United Nations General Assembly is worlds apart and cannot be compared at all, as Ahmadinejad's rhetoric and policy were confrontational with the world, while Hassan Rouhani's discourse is about engagement with the world." The Jahan San'at newspaper reported on its front page, publishing a report about the consequences of government policies on the economic situation in 2016, quoting some economic experts emphasizing that we are facing a year of inflation. This newspaper wrote: "Currently, discussions about setting the dollar at 3100 tomans in the 2016 budget are being raised, and this issue causes not only the public but also market actors to worry about the economic conditions regarding livelihood, imports and exports, foreign trade, production status, housing, etc." The Shahre Vahdat newspaper reported that "lack of money and insufficient rainfall" has led the government to propose "a fivefold increase in water tariffs" for high-consumption subscribers and "general water price hikes" for consideration. This newspaper quoted Haim Midani, Deputy Minister of Energy for Water and Wastewater Affairs, as saying: "We have presented our plans and opinions to the Economic Council, and several meetings have been held, but ultimately the Economic Council must make decisions. Our minimum request from the Economic Council is to allow high-consumption subscribers to pay 4 to 5 times higher than the tariff for water consumption, and we must change the price of water in any case." The Iran newspaper, citing statements from Monouchehr Manteqi, head of the Iranian Space Organization, reported the possibility of Russian planes returning to Iran's aviation fleet, but simultaneously quoted Abedzadeh, head of the Civil Aviation Organization, as saying: "Before purchasing any type of aircraft, flight standards and the aircraft's compatibility with the country's airports and other parameters must be examined; therefore, no aircraft will enter the country without the approval and evaluation of the Civil Aviation Organization." The news of the death of Homa Rousta, an Iranian cinema and theater actress, has received widespread coverage in the Monday editions of newspapers. The Etemad, Roozan, Shargh, and Bahar newspapers dedicated their front pages to this actress, and nearly all other newspapers also published the news of Homa Rousta's death on their front pages. "Cold Water from Parliament on Granting Citizenship to Children of Iranian Mothers" The Etemad newspaper reported on Parliament's opposition to the generalities of the maternal citizenship bill, describing it as "cold water from Parliament on granting citizenship to the children of Iranian mothers." According to this newspaper, "Parliament members rejected the generalities of the bill granting Iranian citizenship to the children of Iranian mothers; a bill that had been approved last week with 140 votes in favor, and its designers believed that the generalities would also receive a similar amount of final votes, but yesterday, Parliament did not vote on the bill and it went to the commissions to perhaps return to Parliament after making amendments and changes to the bill." Etemad noted that "supporters of this bill were trying to open a way to determine the citizenship of children resulting from the marriage of Iranian women and foreign men," emphasizing that one of the reasons for presenting this bill to Parliament is to address the situation of one million people who lack identification and citizenship. According to this newspaper, "supporters of the bill believe that a way must be found to resolve current issues, a way that leads to the organization of the lives of this number of people who are not recognized as Iranians," because "according to the country's law, according to Article 976 of the Civil Code, all residents of Iran, except for those whose foreign citizenship is established, are considered Iranian citizens (jus soli system), and all those whose father is Iranian, regardless of whether they were born in Iran or abroad, are Iranian (jus sanguinis system). The law also considers those born in Iran whose parents are unknown or who are citizens of foreign countries and in this case, if one of them was born in Iran, as Iranian. Additionally, any foreign woman who marries an Iranian man is considered an Iranian citizen, but granting Iranian citizenship to the children of an Iranian woman with a foreign husband is only permitted under specific conditions, such that the applicant must have resided in Iran for at least one year after reaching the age of 18." Supporters of this bill emphasize that "children resulting from the marriage of Iranian women with foreign men in recent years must be supported by the government; they reside in this country and generally live with their mothers while their fathers have left the country," and this is while "the lack of identification for these individuals and the absence of any identity tools deprives all these children of any growth and development, addressing their education, health care, and registration of their marriages and thousands of other issues that all these one million people have faced and continue to face." Opponents of this bill argue that granting maternal citizenship "will encourage immigration to Iran," and when "an illegal situation is legitimized through granting identity and citizenship, we will face a flood of illegal immigration. Some other opponents also point to the financial burden this process will impose on the government." Mohammad Dehghan, a member of the Parliament's board of directors, in support of the bill told Etemad: "Individuals who came from neighboring countries to Iran in the early revolution and legally married Iranian girls have produced a large population that seems to include hundreds of thousands. Since these children are born and live in Iran, they should have Iranian identity. Although this bill states that they must gain identity before the age of 18 to receive services, those over 18 can voluntarily acquire Iranian citizenship." This member of Parliament and one of the signatories of the bill granting citizenship to the children of Iranian mothers emphasized that "registering the identities of dual citizens is a humanitarian act that should be taken into account," saying: "We put a lot of effort into this bill. The majority of Parliament did not agree with the supporters; the representatives did not cooperate for the bill to pass. Only about 80 voted in favor. For us, who advanced this bill with the aim of organizing these individuals, its failure to pass was a bitter event." Nader Qazipour, an opponent of this bill, however, told Etemad: "The approval of the bill granting citizenship to children resulting from the marriage of Iranian women with foreign men and the children of non-Iranian martyrs will lead to continued immigration from many countries such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh to the country, as immigration has increased a thousandfold in recent years." The representative of Urmia in the ninth Parliament emphasized that "dual citizens are mostly those who entered the country without permission and passport," saying: "Legalizing individuals who entered the country illegally is not right. Also, with the approval of this bill, borders will always be more vulnerable than before, and we will face ethnic, tribal, and religious problems." The difference in the rhetoric of Rouhani and Ahmadinejad at the General Assembly; "Seats That Will No Longer Be Empty" The Ebtekar newspaper, in a report titled "Seats That Will No Longer Be Empty," compared the rhetoric of Hassan Rouhani and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during their speeches at the United Nations General Assembly, stating: "The discourse of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Rouhani at the United Nations General Assembly is worlds apart and cannot be compared at all, as Ahmadinejad's rhetoric and policy were confrontational with the world, while Hassan Rouhani's discourse is about engagement with the world." This newspaper noted that "Ahmadinejad's speeches at the United Nations General Assembly faced waves of disrespect, attendees leaving the hall, and empty seats, and his supporters defined this disrespect as a historical epic for the people," writing: "Such behaviors from countries during speeches are not observed with Hassan Rouhani." Ali Farahani, in a report for the Ebtekar newspaper, emphasized that "by examining and comparing Ahmadinejad's public speeches during his nine trips to New York with Rouhani's two trips, we realize that there are many differences between the two." He wrote: "Ahmadinejad's remarks during these nine trips revolved around several main axes, including calling the structure of the United Nations unjust, attempting to break the structure and present a new model, attacking Israel and its legitimacy, questioning issues related to the Holocaust, and aggressively attacking U.S. policies in the region." The Ebtekar newspaper wrote that Hassan Rouhani's remarks during his two trips to New York "were presented within the framework and order of the existing international system and were not seeking to break the structure and present a new order, as Rouhani's remarks focused more on combating violence, extremism, and terrorism, and also referred to the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program," although "Rouhani's remarks also had a critical aspect, and in his speech at the United Nations General Assembly, he criticized U.S. policies in the Middle East, citing the wrong policies and strategies of this country as the reason for the rise of terrorism in the region." Hassan Beheshtipour, a political expert, emphasized that "the discourse of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Rouhani at the United Nations General Assembly is worlds apart," telling the Ebtekar newspaper that their speeches "are not comparable at all, as Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's rhetoric and policy were confrontational with the world, while Hassan Rouhani's discourse is about engagement with the world. Engagement increases opportunities in political, economic, cultural fields, etc., but confrontation only brought tension and enmity for our country." This political expert noted that "in the past, Ahmadinejad spoke to empty seats and brought nothing but disrespect and dishonor for the Iranian nation," saying: "During Ahmadinejad's speech at the United Nations General Assembly, most attendees left the hall, while the media team of that government referred to that dishonor as a national epic." Hassan Beheshtipour pointed out that "the type of discourse and behavior in relations between countries is impactful because you can create opportunities or threats and enmity for the country with a single sentence," stating: "Hassan Rouhani's behavior and words in international forums have been very impactful, and he has provided significant service not only to Iran but also to the region and the global community. In foreign policy, very good opportunities have arisen for Iran, as Iran is set to...