violence against women, there is no readily available information that might indicate whether the office’s work has had an impact in practice. With regards to illegal acts of violence against women under Iranian law, there is no readily available information that might suggest that complaints are adequately addressed, investigated and adjudicated. The Iranian Government engaged in limited efforts to address its discriminatory legal framework. During its last Universal Periodic Review (November 2019) the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran stated that the Act on Protection, Dignity and Security of Women against Violence, will be “aimed at criminalizing new forms of assault, harassment and violations of the rights of women and adopting preventive and support measures to stop violence against women.”67 In January 2020, the U.N. Secretary General expressed concerns about the slow progress of the bill, which has been under review since 201068 and as of February 2021 is under the review of the Iranian Parliament.69 The draft bill will then need to be vetted by the Guardian Council, further delaying the process. The Secretary General also noted that “critical articles were reportedly removed from the initial proposal of the Executive, including provisions protecting women from various forms of violence and criminalizing domestic violence.”70 71 As of early February 2021, the available draft of the law72 suggests that the text may be insufficient to protect women in Iran from discriminations and violence. Even though the draft law may bring positive developments, it will remain limited by the Civil Code,73 the Family Law,74 and the Islamic Penal Code,75 which contain provisions effectively discriminating against women and failing to protect them adequately from violence.76 The Iranian government did pass a new law in 2020 that enables Iranian mothers who married a foreign national to pass on their nationality to their children, provided that they have been cleared by national security checks carried by the Intelligence Ministry and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ intelligence organization.77 The law, entitled “Granting Citizenship to Children Resulting from Marriage Between Iranian Women and Non-Iranian Men”, was 67 Universal Periodic Review, Iran, 2019, https://undocs.org/A/HRC/43/12 Ceasefire Centre for Civilian Rights, Centre for Supporters of Human Rights and Minority Rights Group International September 2019, https://www.justice.gov/eoir/page/file/1203136/download 69 New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/05/world/middleeast/iran-sexual-violence-metoo-women.html 70 Report of the Secretary General, Situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, 2020, https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/IR/Report_of_the_SecretaryGeneral_on_the_situation_of_human_rights_in_the_Islamic_Republic_of_IranA4320.pdf 71 See Radio Farda https://en.radiofarda.com/a/new-watered-down-draft-law-on-violence-against-women-iniran/30173089.html ; and ISNA www.isna.ir/news/98071612729/ (in Farsi). 72 https://shenasname.ir/laws/7023 73 The Civil Code: < https://shenasname.ir/laws/6664 > 74 The Family Law: < https://shenasname.ir/subjects/family/1470 > 75 The Islamic Penal Code: <https://shenasname.ir/subjects/salamat/1571-mojazat92 > 76 This information is up-to-date and accurate as of early February 2021. For more up to date information on the passage of this bill, please click the following link: http://www.impactiran.org/vawbill 77 Center for Human Rights in Iran, https://iranhumanrights.org/2019/10/children-born-to-non-iranian-fathers-win-right-to-filefor-citizenship-with-a-catch/ 68 7