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Transnational Marriages, Gendered Citizenship, and the Dilemma of Iranian Women Married to Afghan Men

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Ashraf Zahedi
Ashraf Zahedi*
Affiliation:
Beatrice Bean Research Group, University of California, Berkeley
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Abstract

With the emerging political stability in Afghanistan, Afghan refugees residing in Iran are scheduled to repatriate to Afghanistan. Many Afghan men have married Iranian women and their repatriation has caused a major dilemma for their Iranian wives. The dilemma stems from the Iranian citizenship laws which disadvantage Iranian women in transfer of their citizenship to their non-Iranian husbands and their children. Thousands of children born of these Iranian mothers and non-Iranian fathers are not recognized as Iranian citizens. They are considered Afghan nationals and are, thus, not entitled to benefit from state-funded education and health services. These children's uncertain futures have magnified the unequal status of Iranian women as mothers and served as an impetus to demand change in the Iranian citizenship laws. This paper seeks to explain gendered citizenship in Iran and explores the socio-legal challenges faced by these women.

Type
Research Article
Information
Iranian Studies , Volume 40 , Issue 2 , April 2007 , pp. 225 - 239
Copyright
Copyright © The International Society for Iranian Studies 2007

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