Iranian MPs move to grant citizenship to children of foreign fathers
Iranian lawmakers passed a bill that would grant citizenship to children in Iran born to Iranian mothers and foreign fathers. If approved by the Guardian Council, the bill would put an end to years of discrimination against women in the country’s nationality law.
Javad is a 30-year-old architect and photographer in Iran. Born to an Iranian mother and an Afghan father in Iran, he has not yet been granted Iranian citizenship due to the country’s nationality law, which only gives children of Iranian fathers automatic citizenship.
As a result, Javad has faced plenty of hurdles and has been deprived of many services, including four years of primary school, insurance and a driver's license. He also faces the annual extension of his father’s legal residence in Iran. Hundreds of thousands of children in Iran find themselves in a similar situation. It's mainly seen in the eastern regions of the country, where the population of Afghan refugees is the greatest.
