Iran's Minister of Intelligence Gives Deadline to Attorney General to Introduce 'Dual Nationality Officials'

Mahmoud Alavi, criticizing the issue of dual nationality managers, implicitly criticized the recent remarks of the Attorney General of Iran and asked him to announce the names of five dual nationality managers he knows by the end of Wednesday 'so that the Ministry of Intelligence can issue orders for their dismissal according to the law.' On Friday, February 29, the Minister of Intelligence told the IRNA news agency, 'No one has mentioned any specific examples of dual nationality officials, and only general statements have been made about this.' According to him, 'these general statements lead to the suspicion that there is a political exploitation of the general issue of dual nationality in the public mind.' As Mahmoud Alavi pointed out, individuals with dual nationality 'cannot hold managerial positions according to the law, and they must either resign themselves or be dismissed.' In recent months, the employment of dual nationality individuals in government positions has become one of the criticisms from media and principlist figures against the government of Hassan Rouhani. In the latest instance, Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, the Attorney General of Iran, criticized the Rouhani government last Wednesday during the fifth session of the 'Revolutionary Spirit' meetings for not dismissing dual nationality officials. He stated, 'We know that some officials are dual nationals, and this is against the law. The government announced that it would dismiss them, but it has not done so.' According to Tasnim news agency, Mr. Montazeri added, 'Dual nationality means that in the event of a crime, they can flee the country. We know that most dual nationals are British and Canadian, and part of the corruption in the country and banks has roots abroad. Why does the government not deal with dual nationality officials?' The Minister of Intelligence on Friday asked the Attorney General to 'if he has examples of these dual nationality managers, kindly inform us so that the government can deal with them.' Mr. Alavi said, 'Given my understanding of him, I am sure he does not speak without basis and certainly has examples in mind.' He also criticized this part of Mohammad Jafar Montazeri's remarks that 'some of these dual nationality officials at the top are collaborating with the enemy.' Mr. Alavi pleaded with the Attorney General to 'as a younger brother... introduce a few of these dual nationals to the Ministry of Intelligence so that they can be dealt with for collaborating with the enemy.' The Minister of Intelligence told Mr. Montazeri that if he has no specific cases, 'by raising such general issues that have no specific examples, it causes confusion in the public's mindset and disturbs their thoughts.' Mr. Alavi also told IRNA on November 1 this year, 'A dual national is someone who holds a passport from another country such as the USA, Canada, Germany, etc. Therefore, an individual who has temporary or several years of residency, which is referred to as a green card in the USA, and even permanent residency in a country, but travels to that country with an Iranian passport is not considered a dual national.' Iranian officials have not yet provided statistics on dealing with dual nationals in government jobs, but Hossein Ali Haji Deligani, a representative of Shahin Shahr in the parliament, said this November that 'he has statistics indicating that 12 dual nationality managers have been arrested so far.' Mr. Alavi also introduced the last dual national manager who resigned as 'a director in the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology' who, according to him, 'held dual nationality and, with the coordination that took place, he resigned himself.' Previously, Jamshid Ansari, the head of the Administrative and Recruitment Organization of the country, had said that according to the country's employment law, dual nationals cannot naturally be employed in government agencies. Hossein Naqavi Hosseini, the spokesman for the National Security Commission of the parliament, announced in December this year that according to civil law, the Iranian nationality of dual nationals is revoked, and they do not have the right to own real estate. According to him, when an individual cannot own real estate, they cannot hold responsibility and be considered a government employee. The Iranian parliament voted in November this year on a plan to investigate 'senior dual nationality managers and green card holders.'