Conversation with Simin Rouzgar

Members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, in a public session on Monday, the fifth of Mehr month, opposed the general outline of the bill to grant citizenship to children born to Iranian women and non-Iranian men with 84 votes against, 74 votes in favor, and 12 abstentions. This opposition took place while just a few days prior, the bill had been approved with a two-thirds majority.

The failure of this plan has increased frustrations regarding the lack of progress and any changes through the existing government system in Iran to solve the problems of approximately one million people without birth certificates and other identity documents.

Seyed Mehdi Mousavi-Nejad, a member of the Energy Commission of the Parliament who has been in favor of the above-mentioned plan, explains the reason for the majority of representatives’ opposition to the generalities of this plan as follows: “My belief is that in the past few days, a different belief has been created in the minds of some representatives, which is that they thought we wanted to bring foreign nationals from other countries here, or return those who were considered fugitives and had left the country, and provide them with special services.”

You will read the conversation about the peace line with Seyyed Mehdi Mousavi Nejad, the representative of the ninth term of the Islamic Consultative Assembly and a member of the Energy Commission of the parliament from Dashtestan constituency in Bushehr province.

Why were you fundamentally in favor of the plan to grant Iranian citizenship to children born from the marriage of Iranian women with non-Iranian men?

No matter what, when we want to review a plan, we must see what the social harms and phenomena that arise as a result of it are, and make decisions accordingly.

Those who marry Iranian citizens and those who are born and live in Iran are not foreigners; they are Iranian and are our fellow countrymen, and we cannot be indifferent towards them. These individuals often face problems such as the issue of not being accepted in educational and service centers, or sometimes the lack of employment opportunities. When people are unable to receive such services in a country, they may create social problems, damages, and negative phenomena such as addiction or social misconduct. Therefore, if we manage this issue systematically and give these individuals an identity and identification documents, and allow them to access the current services of the country, such problems and tragedies will not occur.

Even many of these individuals, in order to prevent their children from facing serious problems, were forced to leave the country and are now dealing with other issues, but there is no longer the possibility of support from the Islamic Republic system against these problems.

Our belief is that this issue must be managed and not abandoned; the abandonment of this issue, which has arisen whether intentionally or unintentionally and has caused serious damages, is against the social, moral, and cultural norms of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Therefore, based on this, we were in favor of approving a plan that would give children of families and women who engage in such marriages an identity and birth certificate so that they can benefit from current services in the country.

This plan was initially approved with 140 votes in favor and it was hoped that the overall approval would be around the same number of votes. How did it not turn out this way?

My belief is that during these few days, another belief was created in the minds of some representatives, and that was that they thought we wanted to bring foreign citizens to Iran or return those who were considered fugitives and had left the country, and provide them with special services.

What will be the fate of this plan? Is there any will among the representatives to present the plan again and have it reviewed?

In any case, if the plan is to be brought up for discussion again, changes must be made to it, but currently it is stagnant and legally nothing significant has happened regarding it.

In your opinion, why do you think the plan that was approved in 85 regarding the determination of the fate of this issue was not able to solve the problems of these individuals?

The reality is that the plan did not have the necessary comprehensiveness. Otherwise, if at that time the situations that had arisen in the country were seen and in fact, considering the various and hidden aspects of this social harm that has occurred in the Islamic Republic of Iran, the plan would have been prepared and investigated, it would have been a comprehensive plan and could have solved many problems; unfortunately, this did not happen.

Considering the failure of this plan and the ongoing issues with the citizenship of these former child soldiers, shouldn’t there be more awareness about this issue so that Iranian women know that if they enter into such marriages, their child or children will remain stateless?

See, currently this awareness is taking place. Of course, not in a special way, but still many consequences of such marriages are mentioned and explained in the country. However, unfortunately, some people ignore these consequences and then get caught up in their problems. Of course, I do not deny the lack of awareness of some classes, which unfortunately leads to such marriages.

If you have any specific points or comments at the end, please let me know…

My opinion is that the government and parliament must definitely think seriously and in line with existing realities about this issue; otherwise, with this trend, our country will face even more serious problems in the future.

Thank you for the time you have given us in the monthly magazine of the Peace Line.