Iran has passed a law allowing the government to grant citizenship to the families of foreigners killed while fighting for the Islamic republic.
Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported on May 2 that the parliament in Tehran authorized the government to grant Iranian citizenship to “wives, children, and parents of foreign fighters who were killed on a mission for Iran during the Iran-Iraq war of 1980-1988 and afterwards.”
Afghans and some Iraqis fought alongside Iranian forces during Iran’s war against the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein.
The law also could apply to "volunteers" from Afghanistan and Pakistan who have been fighting in Syria and Iraq against Sunni extremists from the so-called Islamic State (IS) and Al-Qaeda-linked groups.
Shi’ite Iran provides financial and military support to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
Tehran says its Fatemiyoun Brigade, comprised of Afghan recruits, are volunteers defending sacred Shi’ite sites in Syria and Iraq against Sunni extremists.