Iranian Parliamentarian: A Very Senior High-Ranking Official Holds British Citizenship

Coinciding with the reading of a report by the Parliamentary Committee on Oversight and Investigation into dual-national managers, a member of this committee announced that a “very senior and high-ranking” official in the Islamic Republic holds British citizenship.

During a public session on Sunday, August 28, the Iranian parliament read the report of the Committee on Oversight and Investigation into dual-national managers.

Meanwhile, Abolhassan Torabi, a member of this committee, stated in an interview with the parliamentary news agency, Khaneh Mellat, that one of the “very senior and high-ranking” officials acquired British citizenship while studying in Scotland during his education and still holds this citizenship.

Mr. Torabi did not name this official, but his reference could be to Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, who is said to have studied in Scotland.

Previously, Mojtaba Zolnoor, the representative of Qom in parliament, had stated that Mr. Rouhani’s son holds both British and Canadian citizenship, but Hessam-al-Din Ashena, an advisor to the president, denied this claim.

Some websites have reported that Majid Rouhani is the son of Mr. Rouhani. Also, according to reports from some websites, one of Mr. Rouhani’s daughters lives in Austria.

Mr. Rouhani’s office has neither confirmed nor denied these reports.

Dual Citizenship of Several Ministers’ Children

The parliamentary report also announced that “many children” of officials who held the citizenship of foreign countries due to birth or residence abroad are “engaging in economic activities or employment in those countries without renouncing that citizenship”.

In this report, the children of the Foreign Minister, the Oil Minister, and some advisors and assistants to the Iranian President have been named as individuals with dual citizenship.

Previously, Bijan Zanganeh, the Oil Minister, had stated that his two children live outside Iran.

The daughter and son of Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran’s Foreign Minister, were also born in the United States.

Also, according to reports previously published in Iranian media, Issa Hashemi, the son of Massoumeh Ebtekar, Vice President, lives in the United States.

Iranian media had also reported that Mohammad Nahavandian, the former chief of staff of Hassan Rouhani, holds a green card.

A number of children of Islamic Republic officials also reside in foreign countries, but their citizenship status is unclear.

Mohammad Baqer Nobakht, a former spokesman for the Iranian government, previously implicitly attributed the dual citizenship of some officials’ children to circumventing sanctions.

He said: “Let me say without naming names that we burned some of the tools that helped us during the sanctions period. When we are under sanctions and the official path does not work.”

Officials “Should Swear They Are Not Dual Citizens”

In the parliamentary report, referring to the responses of various ministries to this committee’s inquiries, it was announced that in the Ministry of Road and Urban Development four people, in the Red Crescent Society three people, in the Welfare Organization two people, and in the Housing Foundation four people with dual citizenship are employed.

According to this report, in the Ministry of Culture six people are “suspected” of holding dual citizenship.

A number of ministries have also announced that it is not possible to identify dual-national individuals in their ministries.

Meanwhile, the parliamentary report also stated that it is not possible to completely identify dual-national individuals and criticized the lack of a database for dual-nationals, the “negligence” of the Ministry of Intelligence, and the “weakness” of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in this regard.

The parliamentary oversight committee report did not mention the number of dual-national managers.

However, Javad Karimi Qodousi, the head of this committee, announced that 300 dual-national managers have been identified.

He also said that identifying dual-national managers is difficult because some of these individuals travel to Dubai using an Iranian passport and from there travel to a country of which they hold citizenship using their second passport.

Meanwhile, Abolhassan Torabi, another member of this committee, stated regarding the method of identifying dual-national managers that these individuals have been identified based on “evidence and circumstantial evidence”.

He also said that this committee, to clarify this allegation, wants these officials to “swear that they are not dual citizens”.

Rouhollah Rahmani, the son-in-law of Gholamali Haddad Adel, is another dual-national individual close to Islamic Republic officials.

Mr. Haddad Adel had said that his son-in-law is from a “martyr-raising family” in America, which generated widespread reaction in cyberspace.

Rouhollah Rahmani was appointed as the director general of the Office of Innovation and Investment Support at the Ministry of Communications in 2016 but resigned after the issue of dual-national managers was raised.

Mahmoud Alavi, the Minister of Intelligence, had previously announced that “we do not have dual-national managers” and the issue of dual citizens is among the “scenarios” prepared by opponents against the government.

However, Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, the General Prosecutor of the country, announced that the judiciary has repeatedly requested the Ministry of Intelligence to introduce dual-national managers, but the response from this ministry has not been “satisfactory”.

Source: Radio Farda