According to a 10 July 1995 report in the Tehran daily Jomhuri-Ye Eslami,

Based on this bill [requiring the allocation of identity cards and postal codes to all Iranians], in order to facilitate the exchange of information and necessary communication to provide services to the society, decrease general expenditures, and also avoid the use of various and parallel numbers to identify individuals and their needed services, the Ministries of Interior and Post, Telegraph and Telephone were made responsible for allocating identity numbers and postal codes in adherence with the laws and regulations cited with regard to identity cards for all Iranian residents and their place of residence and work, and all actual and legal persons and government and public organizations responsible to use the identity numbers and postal codes. This card, as the identity document of Iranian citizens, encompasses all related legal and penal rulings and must always be carried by its owner.

One of the notes to this bill prohibits the issuance of any sort of administrative or guild card or drivers license without [it] including the identity card and postal code numbers.

The following information was provided during a 3 February 1997 telephone interview with a former professor of international affairs at Behesti University in Tehran. The source has also been a research consultant with the Zentrum Moderner Orient in Berlin and a fellow researcher at St. Anthony's College at Oxford University in England.

The source stated that the penalty for not updating or renewing an old birth certificate would be a fine. The source questioned why a person would not renew an old document since all government services require the new card.

The following information was provided during a 29 January 1997 telephone interview with a specialist on Iran in England.

The source stated that the penalty for not renewing an old birth certificate is a fine. The source also questioned why a person would not renew an old birth certificate since it is required to obtain other offical documents such as passports.

The following information was provided during a 28 January 1997 telephone interview with a French journalist in Paris who was based in Iran between 1992 and 1996.

The source stated that the government introduced the new identity document (Sharras-Namé in Farsi) because of the widespread fabrication and use of fraudulent identity documents. The government wanted to create a single identity document that would replace all of other identity documents, which were easily counterfeited. The source stated that the new document is required for all government services or procedures.

The following information was provided during a 22 January 1997 telephone interview with a specialist on Iran at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.

The source stated that the penalty for not updating or renewing an old birth certificate would be a fine.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

References

Former professor of international affairs, Behesti University, Tehran. 3 February 1997. Telephone interview.

French journalist based in Tehran from 1992 to 1996, Paris. 28 January 1997. Telephone interview.

Jomhuri-Ye Eslami [Tehran, in Persian]. 10 July 1995. "Bill Ratified on Identity Numbers, Zip Codes." (FBIS-NES-95-143 26 July 1995, pp. 67-68)

Specialist on Iran, England. 29 January 1997. Telephone interview.

Specialist on Iran, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia. 22 January 1997. Telephone interview.

Attachments

IRNA [Tehran, in English]. 23 February 1995. "Citizens to Have Identity Codes as of Next Year." (FBIS-NES-95-037 24 Feb. 1995, p. 70)

Jomhuri-Ye Eslami [Tehran, in Persian]. 10 July 1995. "Bill Ratified on Identity Numbers, Zip Codes." (FBIS-NES-95-143 26 July 1995, pp. 67-68)

Additional Sources Consulted

Arabies [Paris]. Bi-monthly.

The Middle East [London]. Monthly.

Middle East International [London/New York]. Bi-monthly.

Monde arabe Maghreb-Machrek [Paris]. Quarterly.

Middle East Report [Washington]. Bi-monthly.

News From Middle East Watch [New York]. monthly.

Mideast Mirror [London]. Daily.

The Jerusalem Report [Jerusalem]. 1994-1997.

Note on oral sources:

Oral sources are usually contacted when documentary sources have been exhausted. However, oral sources must agree to be quoted in a publicly available Response to Information Request. If they refuse, the Response will read "no information currently available." Contacting oral sources is also subject to time constraints; for example, periods of the year when academics are unavailable.

Note on media on-line searches:

Please note that on-line searches, which require delays and involve significant costs, are not performed for every Response to Information Request. The nature and subject of the request will determine whether an on-line search of sources can be performed.

Note:

This list is not exhaustive. Country-specific books available in the Resource Centre are not included.