TEHRAN: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the best age for girls to get married was between 16 and 18, Iranian newspapers reported on Sunday.
Analysts say such announcements could be part of the government’s efforts to gain support among young voters. Iran’s parliament in 2004 raised the legally acceptable age of marriage for girls to 15 from nine. “The best age for marriage is between 16 to 18 for girls and 19 to 21 for boys,” the Mardomsalari newspaper quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.
Ahmadinejad’s popularity has been harmed since the disputed 2009 presidential vote, which the opposition says was rigged to secure his re-election. The authorities deny this. The vote and its aftermath created a rift within the ruling hardline elite.
“We have a parliamentary election in 2012 and hardliners want to win young people’s votes in order to win the assembly vote,” said an Iranian political analyst who asked not to be named. Iranians struggle to cope with international sanctions and deepening economic uncertainty.
The official inflation rate is about 10 percent and unemployment about 15 percent.
