Nationality of Children Born of Iranian Mothers

One of the most important and controversial issues in nationality is the ways in which nationality may be acquired. One of the commonest of such ways is "by birth". Some countries confer their nationality on children born of parents who are nationals which is known as jus sanguinis rule. According to Article 976 of the Iranian Civil code only children who are born of Iranian fathers are considered as Iranian nationals. In 2007, Iranian parliament enacted a law to solve the problem of the nationality of children born of an Iranian mother and a foreign father and the Guardian Council affirmed it. In this article the author will examine the new law. The article will focus on the issue of whether this piece of legislation has developed the existing rules of nationality or not.