Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 18
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
At least 615 Iranian women married to foreigners during the first nine months of the current Iranian fiscal year (March 21-Dec. 22, 2014), Ali Akbar Mahzoun, director of the Office of Statistics and Population at the National Organization for Civil Registration (NOCR) said.
The figure indicates an increase by 26.3 percent compared the same period of preceding year, Mahzoun said, Iran's ISNA news agency reported Jan. 18.
The figure is about 0.1 percent of total registered marriages in the country during the period, he added.
Mahzoun went on to say that Tehran tops the list with 90, followed by Khuzestan Province with 48, Qom Province with 44, Western Azerbaijan Province with 42 and Razavi Khorasan Province with 36 women married with foreigners.
Some 138 women from the list are aged between 30 and 34, and the age of 116 women ranges between 25 and 29, he added
The official also said that 560 Iranian men married with foreign women during the 9-month period, with 64 of these marriages being registered in Khuzestan Province, followed by 62 in Razavi Khorasan, 41 in Tehran, 32 in Golestan and 30 in Western Azerbaijan Provinces.
The number of Iranian men married to foreigners indicates an increase by 23.6 percent year on year.
About 163 men who married with foreign citizens are 25-29 years old, while 154 men are at the age of 20 to 24 years old.
It should be noted that the Iranian women's children born from a foreigner father are deprived of citizenship, including education and health services.
According to Iran's laws the children born in Iran from a foreigner father and an Iranian mother can apply for citizenship only when they reach 18.
Iran, like many other countries in the Middle East, has traditionally based nationality on paternity alone and has been reluctant to grant citizenship to people seen as outsiders.
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