Iranian Press reported on Sunday, November 21st that president Mahmud Ahmadinejad has urged girls to marry as early as the age of 16. He stated that there is no proper reason for the apparent fact that the current average age of marriage in Iran is 24 to 26 and that the best age for marriage is between 16 to 18 for girls and 19 to 21 for boys. Ahmadinejad has long sought an increase of population in Iran, rejecting family planning as a western import. It seems that by gearing towards the youth he hopes to gain support among young voters even under contradictory circumstances such as high unemployment and increasing real estate rates.
