Before English courts, Iranian law is a fact — and facts are proved.

Proof instead of judicial inquiry Both

The court does not ascertain the foreign law itself; the party brings the expert report, the other side may field an opposing expert, and both can be questioned. The report follows the procedural rules for experts: duty to the court, disclosure of the basis, separation of the law as written from the practice of applying it.

The presumption when nobody proves English law

Where foreign law is pleaded but its content is not proved, the English court may presume until the contrary is shown that it is materially the same as English law — FS Cairo (Nile Plaza) LLC v Brownlie [2021] UKSC 45. The Supreme Court attached two warnings: relying on it at trial is a precarious course, and the presumption sits most comfortably where the other system is itself a common-law one.

Iranian law is not a common-law system. Statutorily fixed heirship shares, testamentary power limited to one third of the estate, mahr as an enforceable obligation rather than a gift — presume similarity here and you do not get an approximate answer. You get the wrong one.

Residence, passport and status English law

English conflict rules do not attach to the passport: for estates, domicile and situs count; in family matters, residence and the forum. The Iranian passport does not make Iranian law applicable — it makes it a matter of proof wherever it reaches into the case through domicile, matrimonial property or documents.

Mahr Both

English case law has long treated the mahr as an enforceable contractual obligation; alongside that it feeds into the financial remedies after divorce. The dispute is almost always factual: the wording and construction of the Iranian marriage deed, the amount and its statutory adjustment, the status of any Iranian proceedings.

Validity of the marriage Both

A marriage concluded only religiously, without effective registration, may from the English point of view be no marriage at all — with the consequence that the financial claims of divorce fall away. The marriage registered in Iran is the opposite case: its proof from the Iranian registers opens the door that stays shut to the bare ceremony.

Recognition of the Iranian divorce English law

Whether a divorce carried out in Iran operates in England depends, under the English recognition rules, on the nature of the Iranian process and the parties’ residence; a divorce pursued partly here and partly there is the classic problem case. The English assessment is for the solicitor — my layer is the Iranian process itself: what exactly happened, before which body, with which document.

Children Both

Iran is not a party to the 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention; the treaty route of return does not exist. What remains are the English instruments — and, on the Iranian side, hezānat, velāyat, exit consent and the proceedings there.

Estates with an Iranian element Both

For movables the domicile counts, for real property the situs. Iranian assets run through the Iranian procedure; in the English proceedings the heirship under Iranian law is needed as expert evidence, along with the legalised documents — and often the resolution of the domicile of a deceased who lived between the two countries.

Chain and source of funds Both

Iran is not a party to the Apostille Convention; Iranian documents come with certified translation and, where required, proof of authenticity — if necessary through an expert statement on Iranian documentary practice. Before UK banks, an Iranian connection means enhanced scrutiny; the layer that comes from me is the same as everywhere: the Iranian transaction, the registered document, the written explanation. The UK regulatory and sanctions assessment sits with advisers admitted there.