Judiciary: Dual nationals still exist; Minister of Intelligence: They do not

Continuing the debate over the presence of dual nationals in managerial positions, the spokesperson for the Judiciary of the Islamic Republic stated, citing "supervisory bodies," that there are still "dual national managers" in the government. Hours later, the Minister of Intelligence emphasized that there are no dual nationals. Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the spokesperson for the Judiciary, announced on Wednesday, February 23, that several dual national managers in Iran had been "dismissed" and "arrested," stating: "The Ministry of Intelligence must be aware of the existence of these dual nationals" and "supervisory bodies report that dual national managers still exist." According to the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA), this judicial official, speaking about the Attorney General's remarks regarding dual national managers and the Minister of Intelligence's response, added: "According to the law, dual nationals cannot hold government positions." Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, the Attorney General of Iran, recently criticized the government of Hassan Rouhani for not dismissing dual national officials. He said: "We know that some officials are dual nationals, which is against the law. The government announced that it would dismiss them, but it did not." Montazeri added: "Being a dual national 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 country's corruption and banking issues has roots abroad. Why does the government not take action against dual national officials?" In support of this position, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei reiterated on Wednesday that some dual national managers in Iran have been dismissed. He mentioned that some dual nationals had been arrested for having connections with foreigners or other charges. He announced that the Attorney General and the Minister of Intelligence would provide their reports, adding: "The Ministry of Intelligence must be aware of the existence of these dual nationals, and if it is not aware, we should ask the Minister of Intelligence why he is unaware of this issue. Meanwhile, the Attorney General will also provide his information to the Minister of Intelligence." The statements of the Judiciary spokesperson were a reaction to the remarks made on February 17 by Mahmoud Alavi, the Minister of Intelligence, who criticized the repeated mention of dual national managers and urged Montazeri to announce the names of five dual national managers he knows by the end of Wednesday, February 23, "so that the Ministry of Intelligence can issue orders for their dismissal according to the law." The Minister of Intelligence told the state news agency IRNA: "No one has mentioned a specific case of dual national officials, and only general statements have been made about this matter." He reiterated on Wednesday that there are no dual nationals. According to him, "These general statements lead to the suspicion of political exploitation from raising the general issue of dual nationals in public opinion." Mahmoud Alavi noted that dual nationals "cannot hold managerial positions according to the law and must either resign or be dismissed." In recent months, the employment of dual nationals in government positions has become one of the criticisms from media and principlist figures against Hassan Rouhani's government. According to IRNA, the Minister of Intelligence also criticized part of the Attorney General's remarks that "some of these dual national officials at the top are collaborating with the enemy." Mahmoud Alavi also requested the Attorney General of Iran 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." He also warned Mohammad Jafar Montazeri that if he has no specific cases, "he should not create confusion in public perception by raising such general issues that have no specific instances." The Minister of Intelligence stated on November 1 that "a dual national is someone who holds a passport from another country, such as the USA, Canada, Germany, etc. Therefore, a person who has temporary or several years of residency, known as a green card in the USA, and even permanent residency in a country but travels to that country with the passport of the Islamic Republic of Iran is not considered a dual national." Iranian officials have not yet provided statistics on actions taken against dual nationals in government jobs, but Hossein Ali Hajilagani, a representative from Shahin Shahr in the parliament, stated in November that he has statistics indicating that 12 dual national managers have been arrested so far. Alavi also mentioned on Friday that the last dual national manager who resigned was "a director in the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology," who, according to him, "held dual nationality and resigned with coordination." Jamshid Ansari, the head of the Administrative and Recruitment Organization of the country, also stated on February 17 that according to the country’s employment law, dual nationals cannot naturally be employed in government positions. The Iranian parliament voted in November on a plan to investigate "senior dual national managers and those with green cards."