MNA – Government Spokesman Ali Rabiei said the cabinet has approved the regulations for allowing children of an Iranian mother and foreign father to get Iranian citizenship.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Cabinet session on Wednesday, Rabiei said the government has imparted the related regulations, and Iranian mothers can now pass on their citizenship to their children.

He noted that all children with Iranian mothers can receive Iranian citizenship after the age of 18.

“Based on the regulations, provincial governorates, the National Organization for Civil Registration, and Iranian representatives in foreign countries are obliged to implement the new law,” Rabiei added.

In October 2019, the Guardian Council – Iran's legislative vetting body -- ratified a bill that allows children born to Iranian women and foreign men to obtain Iranian nationality.

The bill, passed by the Iranian parliament in May 2019, was welcomed by international organizations such as the Human Rights Watch.

In Iran, nationality is passed down from father to child and not from the mother.

Reportedly, there are about 800,000 children from the marriages of Iranian women with non-Iranian men across the country who will enjoy the new law.