Ghashghavi: Legal Cases Will Be Formed for 3% of Iranians Abroad Upon Their Return

Mohammad Hassan Ghashghavi, the Consular Deputy of Iran's Foreign Ministry, stated that among Iranians abroad, "a maximum of three percent are active opposition" and that "there are issues for their entry into the country." According to Mehr News Agency, Ghashghavi, speaking on Sunday, March 14, added that this "three percent" are not banned from entering but "a legal case will be formed for them upon their arrival." He also mentioned that "97 percent of Iranians abroad are not opposition and these individuals can easily travel to Iran for the New Year celebrations." The Deputy Consul did not provide an explanation on how these percentages were obtained or the criteria for being classified among the mentioned "three percent." He noted that a plan titled "Facilitating the Entry of Iranians into the Country" has been approved, stating: "This plan was an explicit order from the President, resulting from meetings of relevant institutions with the participation of the Foreign Ministry and was eventually approved." Ghashghavi continued that with the plan "Facilitating the Entry of Iranians Abroad into the Country," all Iranians can visit embassies and present identity documents to receive a passport or a document equivalent to a passport. He emphasized that the Islamic Republic's representatives abroad have been instructed to issue passports for individuals without regard to their residency documents and considering only their Iranian identity documents. According to the Deputy Foreign Minister, "there is a false and unnecessary fear among Iranians abroad that if they enter the country, they will be considered criminals and prosecuted, but I announce that there is no problem for them to enter the country unless the individual has a legal case." He stated that this "false fear" among Iranians abroad is due to "opposition and anti-revolutionary propaganda." Ghashghavi had previously stated that "the opposition, at its most severe, constitutes only 3 to 4 percent of all Iranians abroad." He also added that "for those who have doubts, we have said to email us, and if there is a false fear, we will clarify the ambiguity for them." The requests from Rouhani's government officials for the return and investment of Iranians abroad have been repeatedly mentioned since the beginning of his administration; however, some of them have been arrested upon their return and sometimes sentenced to long prison terms. Judiciary officials have previously stated that Iranians abroad who are sentenced in absentia in Iran will be arrested upon their return to the country. "No documents will be confiscated from anyone," Ali Chaghini, the Director General of Consular Affairs at the Foreign Ministry, also mentioned in the same press conference on Sunday, referring to the plan to facilitate the entry of Iranians abroad into the country, stating: "The goal of this plan was that any Iranian who has valid documents such as a passport can receive a passport upon visiting the Islamic Republic's representations without any explanation and without confiscating or presenting residency documents, and solely based on verifying their Iranian identity, they will be able to travel to and from the country." He added: "No documents will be confiscated from anyone, neither at Iranian embassies nor upon entering the country, and as soon as the individual visits the Iranian representation abroad and also at the border and airport entries, no document confiscation will take place."