Member of the Parliament Security Commission: Dual Citizenship of Iranian Citizens is a Crime

The spokesperson for the National Security Commission of the Islamic Consultative Assembly has described the possession of dual citizenship by Iranian citizens as a 'crime' and stated that these individuals not only cannot own 'real estate' but also do not have the right to hold government positions or employment. On Saturday, January 7, according to the Mizan news agency, Hossein Naqavi Hosseini added that 'according to civil law, individuals with dual nationality who accept the nationality of another country have their Iranian citizenship revoked, and essentially it is a single nationality.' He considered dual citizenship to be a 'crime' and added that dual nationals 'also do not have the right to own real estate.' The Islamic Republic does not recognize dual citizenship, but until now, there has been no mention of it being a crime. In this regard, Article 41 of the Iranian Constitution states that 'the nationality of the country of Iran is the inalienable right of every Iranian individual, and the government cannot deprive any Iranian of their nationality, except at their own request or if they acquire the nationality of another country.' At the same time, Iranian civil law also imposes restrictions on 'government employment' and 'ownership of real estate' by individuals who have acquired foreign nationality, but it does not mention the 'criminality' of acquiring dual citizenship. Naqavi Hosseini pointed out that 'when an individual cannot own real estate, they cannot simultaneously hold responsibility or be a government employee.' This conservative member of parliament described the acceptance of dual citizenship as 'a criminal act' and added that for this reason, dual nationals 'usually' conceal this issue. He identified 'concealment' as the main reason for the lack of accurate statistics regarding the number of dual nationals in Iran and called for the punishment of this group of individuals through 'deprivation of Iranian nationality and some other rights, including government jobs.' The spokesperson for the National Security Commission of the Islamic Consultative Assembly also announced the establishment of a committee to investigate and extract accurate statistics on dual nationals, adding that 'most dual nationals are among the managers.' He stated that 'we should not have dual nationality managers,' calling 'legal gaps' the 'main obstacle' to the non-employment of dual nationals in Iran and said that there should be a 'conceptual separation' between the terms dual citizenship, green card, and residency rights so that 'the limits of rights and obligations of each can be clearly defined separately.' The issue of 'dual nationality' officials became one of the critical issues for conservatives against the Rouhani administration after it began. These conservatives refer to Iranian officials with 'dual nationality' as one of the most important channels of 'influence' in Iran and have repeatedly called for their removal from their positions over the past three years. On November 25 of this year, members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly also voted for an investigation into senior managers with dual nationality and green cards and 'identifying legal gaps.' Meanwhile, Mahmoud Alavi, the Minister of Intelligence in Rouhani's government, who himself belongs to the conservative faction, says that there are no longer 'dual nationality managers' among Iranian officials and that the discussion of dual nationals is one of the 'scenarios' that opponents of the Rouhani government are preparing. According to Alavi, 'the issue of dual nationality is presented in such a way that it seems that every individual who is dual national is corrupt, foreign, a traitor, or a spy.' He has repeatedly warned that political goals should not lead to accusations of espionage against individuals who have not engaged in espionage.