Ongoing Dispute Over the Existence of 'Dual Nationality' Managers in Rouhani's Government

In the ongoing dispute between the executive and judicial branches over 'dual nationality' managers, one day after the Minister of Intelligence stated that the judiciary had not introduced 'even one' dual-national manager to his ministry, the Attorney General announced the existence of a list of 52 managers. According to this senior judicial official, a new list of 52 dual-national managers was sent to the Ministry of Intelligence a few days ago. In a televised program on Thursday evening, March 16, Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, the Attorney General, also stated that 'dual nationals can be dangerous individuals, and we have warned the government to be cautious of these individuals.' He reported that a list of 52 individuals was sent to the Ministry of Intelligence, some of whom are dual nationals, some hold U.S. green cards, and some have residence permits. According to Mr. Montazeri, the Ministry of Intelligence stated regarding a previous list of 16 individuals sent by the Attorney General's office that some of these managers had green cards but had not renewed them. He also mentioned that two managers who had residence permits abroad were advising Iran's nuclear negotiation team. Some members of parliament have announced that Abdolrasool Daryaei Isfahani, a member of the nuclear negotiation team who has been arrested and whose case is under review in court, holds dual nationality. On the other hand, officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have denied reports regarding accusations of 'espionage' against Mr. Daryaei Isfahani and his dual nationality. The Attorney General also stated in this televised program that having a green card is not legally prohibited, but it has 'consequences.' He emphasized: 'In a significant center where many classified and confidential documents of the country are kept, why should a dual national be an advisor to its head?' One day before the Attorney General's remarks, the Minister of Intelligence stated that the judiciary had not introduced 'even one' dual-national manager to his ministry in response to previous requests from this ministry. Mahmoud Alavi said that from the list of 16 sent by the Attorney General's office, only two individuals held U.S. green cards, one of whom had not renewed it, and the other was retired and living abroad. According to Mr. Alavi, the son-in-law of a political figure in Iran who held a government position was a dual national who resigned. The Minister of Intelligence's reference to 'the son-in-law of a political figure' could refer to Rouhollah Rahmani, the son-in-law of Gholamali Haddad Adel, the speaker of the seventh parliament. Rouhollah Rahmani, who is born and a citizen of the U.S., was appointed as the director-general of the Department of Innovation and Investment Support in the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in July, but resigned in November after the issue of dual-national managers arose. Previously, Iranian judicial officials had repeatedly reported the existence of dual-national managers in the government, but the Minister of Intelligence and other government officials have denied these reports. Government officials state that holding a U.S. green card or residence permit in other countries does not mean holding dual nationality. Mr. Alavi had previously stated that there are 'no dual-national managers' among Iranian officials anymore, considering the dual-nationality issue as one of the 'scenarios' that the government's opponents are preparing. In this context, Jamshid Ansari, head of the Administrative and Recruitment Organization of the country, stated on February 18 that according to the country's employment law, dual nationals cannot naturally be employed in government positions. The Iranian parliament voted in November this year on a plan to investigate 'senior dual-national managers and those with green cards.' The issue of dual-national managers arose after Mahmoud Reza Khavari, the former CEO of Bank Melli, fled to Canada following the infamous 3,000 billion tomans embezzlement case. In recent years, some principlists and judicial officials have referred to Iranian officials with 'dual nationality' as one of the most important channels of 'influence' in Iran and have repeatedly called for their dismissal.