New Research Shows Rise In Child Marriages In Iran
Approximately 184,000 marriages involving girls under the age of 15 were registered in Iran between 2017 and 2022 as girls dropped out of school at increasing rates.
Approximately 184,000 marriages involving girls under the age of 15 were registered in Iran between 2017 and 2022 as girls dropped out of school at increasing rates.
A report from the Research Center of the Iranian Parliament said girls were dropping out of school to get married in rising numbers. "The total number of school dropouts in the academic year 2015-2016 was 862,777, and in the academic year 2021-2022, it surged by 26%, reaching 911,272."
Mansour Fat’hi, an associate professor of social welfare at Allameh Tabataba'i University, pointed to poverty as the primary issue in slum areas, underscoring that around 70% of underprivileged children find themselves in the lowest economic conditions amidst Iran's dire economic crisis.
The Ministry of Education reported that approximately 30% of high school students and 20% of girls aged 15 to 18 left school in 2022 due to early marriages.
Despite global standards considering individuals under 18 as "children", child marriages are allowed from the age of 13 for girls and 15 for boys in Iran. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has consistently emphasized policies promoting population growth, fertility, and early marriages.
Iran's Statistical Center recorded around 25,900 cases of girls under 15 getting married in 2022, less than the 32,000 such cases registered in 2021, suggesting discrepancies in the data released by the government.
UNICEF shortlisted Iran in the Middle East and North Africa's top five countries for child marriage in 2020 and according to Iran Open Data, one out of five marriages is among minors.
The Iranian leadership, typically reticent about Russia's double standards, has, for the second time this year, heightened its response to Moscow's stance. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's most senior foreign policy adviser, former Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati, implicitly criticized Russia's behavior by stating, "Iran will not allow any foreign entity to intervene in its internal affairs."
In a similar situation earlier this year, Velayati, following Russia's joint statement with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in September, emphasized the importance of Iran's friendly and strategic ties with Russia. He pointed out that both sides' bilateral and regional interests should be considered. Notably, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei remained silent, as is often the case, regarding Russia's actions that undermine Iran's territorial integrity.
Recently, the Iranian Foreign Ministry criticized "part of the statement of the 6th Arab-Russian Cooperation Forum held in Morocco, dismissing the claims on three Iranian islands as baseless and unacceptable." Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani asserted that "The Islands of Abu Musa, Greater Tunb, and Lesser Tunb are eternal parts of Iran and inseparable from the Islamic Republic." He underscored that Iran's sovereignty over these islands is non-negotiable, emphasizing the country's commitment to protecting its territorial integrity.
In response to the Foreign Ministry's statement, Iranian international lawyer Reza Nasri highlighted that Russia's support for the UAE's sovereignty claims over the Persian Gulf islands contrasts with Iran's support for Russia in the Ukraine conflict. Nasri emphasized the need for Russia to be a strategic ally to Iran and called for respect for Iran's territorial integrity.
Britain, which maintained control of Abu Musa, and the Greater and Lesser Tunb it had occupied in the 19th century, withdrew its forces from the Persian Gulf in 1971 and the United Arab Emirates was formed. However, Iran’s Imperial government at the time decided to reclaim what it believed were historical Iranian islands.
Mohammad Reza Shah sent the Iranian navy to secure all three in November of the same year, two days before UAE was established. Iranian forces remain on the islands, with only Abu Musa having much of a civilian population of several thousand.
X (Twitter) users criticized the untimeliness of Russia's behavior, especially as Iran is working to finalize a strategic security pact with Russia. Some social media users labeled Iranian officials as "traitors" over Tehran's response.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Amirabdollahian called on Moscow to respect Iran's territorial integrity and sovereignty, after Russia supported the UAE’s sovereignty claims over three Persian Gulf islands. He said during a telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov: "The Islamic Republic of Iran completely rejects any claim in this regard by any party. Respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of countries is one of the fundamental principles in relations between countries, and Tehran makes no compromises with any party when it comes to respect for its territorial integrity and sovereignty issues." Lavrov responded that "The sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran has always been respected by Russia and Moscow's official policy in this regard should never be doubted."
Earlier in this year, the media pointed out that some Iranian hardliners supported Russia's humiliating stances on the three Iranian islands in the Persian Gulf. At the time Raisi-administration-owned daily Iran charged that Iranian media outlets that criticized Russia's positions get their orders from the United States.
