There are no dual citizens in the executive branch, a lawmaker quoted the intelligence minister as saying, as a group of MPs prepare a report on officials that hold dual citizenship.
In an interview with Tasnim News Agency, lawmaker Mehrdad Lahouti said Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alawi has maintained that the administration does not employ dual citizens.
This comes after Parliament released a report on senior officials who hold dual citizenship or carry US green card, listing 210 names. Alawi said his ministry has made an inquiry about the case and barred 101 people –named in the list of 210 people compiled by the Majlis–from taking administrative posts, the MP added. Last week, the Parliament’s Investigation Team released a report after a year of research on the status of senior officials, namely those with dual citizenship or holding the US green card.
The Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission has received the report, which is going to be discussed in an open session of the parliament this week.
The issue of and opposition to senior managers with dual nationality sparked debate after the former head of Bank Melli, Mahmoud Reza Khavari, fled the country in 2011 in the wake of a $2.6 billion financial fraud.
The fugitive banker had taken Canadian citizenship in 2005 when he had full control over the purse strings of the nation’s biggest bank.
