INTRODUCTION
Last updated: January 2025
The country guidance documents provide country-specific common analysis and guidance in relation to the assessment criteria established in the recast Qualification Directive (QD)1 and in the newly adopted Qualification Regulation (QR)2, which will repeal the QD with its entry into application on 1 July 2026. They are developed by the EUAA together with a network of senior-level policy officials from EU+ countries and represent their joint assessment of the situation in main countries of origin, in accordance with current EU legislation and jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).
The aim of the country guidance documents is to assist decision-makers and policy-makers in their daily work and to foster convergence in the assessment of applications for international protection and the type of protection granted in the context of the Common European Asylum System.
The development, review and update of country guidance is regulated under Article 11 of the EUAA Regulation.
In accordance with Article 11(3) EUAA Regulation, Member States have the obligation to take into account the common analysis and guidance notes when examining applications for international protection, without prejudice to their competence to decide on individual applications.
This common analysis is based on country of origin information (COI) covering the period 1 January 2023 - 17 October 2024.
The analysis and guidance in this document should be considered valid as long as current events and developments in the country fall within the trends and patterns described within the COI on which the assessment at hand is based on.
The analysis and guidance provided in this document are not exhaustive.
Common analysis, guidance note and methodological approach
The country guidance document consists of two components: the guidance note and the common analysis. These two parts focus on the situation in the country of origin and provide analysis and guidance on the assessment of relevant international protection needs.
They should be read in conjunction with the separate document ‘Country Guidance: explained’.
This document outlines the general guidance relied upon in this analysis, as well as the methodological framework, approach and indicators used to assess the different elements of qualification for international protection.
Scope of this development
This development focuses on the international protection needs of the most encountered profiles of applicants for international protection in the caseload of EU+ countries. It covers the situation of individuals perceived by the Iranian authorities as criticising them; deserters and those encouraging desertion; individuals considered as converts, apostates, blasphemers, atheists; individuals perceived to have transgressed Islamic norms or laws; ethnic and religious minorities; women and girls, and persons with diverse SOGIESC. Additionally, this development covers the international protection needs of Iranian applicants under the meaning of Article 15 QD/QR, as well as the potential availability of an internal protection alternative. The main actors in Iran are covered by the sections on actors of persecution or serious harm and actors of protection. Finally, general exclusion considerations to take into consideration when assessing international protection needs of Iranian applicants are also dealt with in the present development.
This update is based on the following recent COI:
EUAA COI Query:
Iran – Major political, security, and humanitarian developments
(7 October 2024)
EUAA COI Query:
Iran - Desertion/draft evasion from the army and the Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)
(February 2022)
EUAA COI Query:
Iran – Situation of atheists and non-religious individuals, including
legislation, treatment by state actors and society, availability of
state protection
(November 2023)
Annex II. Country of origin information references provides further details on all COI reports used as a basis for the analysis within this document. References and links within this document are to the respective sections of these COI reports.
- 1
Directive 2011/95/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 2011 on standards for the qualification of third-country nationals or stateless persons as beneficiaries of international protection, for a uniform status for refugees or for persons eligible for subsidiary protection, and for the content of the protection granted (recast).
- 2
Regulation (EU) 2024/1347 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 May 2024 on standards for the qualification of third-country nationals or stateless persons as beneficiaries of international protection, for a uniform status for refugees or for persons eligible for subsidiary protection and for the content of the protection granted, amending Council Directive 2003/109/EC and repealing Directive 2011/95/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council.