Registration of 105,000 Mutual Divorces in the First 10 Months of 2016

Ahmad Toiserkani, the head of the Organization for Registration of Deeds and Properties, announced on Tuesday, January 17, that 138,353 divorces have been registered in Iran over the past 10 months. According to Tasnim News Agency, Mr. Toiserkani stated that of this number, 105,533 divorces were registered as 'mutual.' He provided these statistics based on the latest status of marriages and divorces recorded in marriage and divorce offices across Iran. According to the head of the Organization for Registration of Deeds and Properties, the highest and lowest ages for divorce among men were 92 and 16 years, respectively. Among women, the highest age for divorce was reported to be 79 years. As reported by Ahmad Toiserkani, from the beginning of Farvardin to January 15 of the current year, 678,736 marriages were also registered in Iran. He stated that the highest and lowest ages for marriage among women in the past 10 months were 85 and 11 years, respectively. During this period, the highest age for marriage among men was 94 years. Previously, on January 8, the Mehr News Agency, citing statistics from the Organization for Civil Registration of Iran, reported an increase in divorces and a decrease in marriages, stating that 20 divorces are registered every hour. According to this organization’s statistics, the rate of divorce has significantly increased over the past decade compared to marriage statistics. Based on this report, in 2011, there were 16 divorces registered for every 100 marriages, while in 2015, this figure rose to 23 divorces for every 100 marriages. According to Mehr, in the past year, the duration of marriage in 60% of registered divorces was less than five years, and 3% of them occurred in the first year of marriage. In Iran, divorce is referred to as one of the 'social harms,' and various organizations, including the Ministry of Interior, are trying to reduce the rising statistics of this phenomenon. The Law Newspaper on Sunday, January 15, quoted Kourosh Mohammadi, the head of the Iranian Association of Pathology, in response to the Islamic Consultative Assembly's mandate to the Welfare Organization to reduce the divorce rate by 20% during the sixth development plan, stating, 'Divorce cannot be reduced by decree and circulars.' Mr. Mohammadi described divorce as a 'comprehensive phenomenon' and added that it is necessary to examine what issues have led to the 'Welfare Organization's inability to control the divorce process and other social harms such as addiction and delinquency, which fall within the scope of this organization’s mission.' He stated that 'today we are facing a change in lifestyle' and said that 'the Welfare Organization does not have the ability to change people's lifestyles.' Previously, Shahindokht Molaverdi, the Vice President for Women and Family Affairs, described the rising age of marriage and increasing divorce rates as a concerning issue in Iran's demographic changes. Ms. Molaverdi stated that the emergence of various forms of life formation and new ways of couple acquaintance, the increasing growth of emotional divorces, and the decreasing willingness to have children are important issues in Iran's demographic changes. The document 'General Policies of the Family,' which was communicated by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, to the heads of the three branches of government in September of this year, emphasizes the need for cultural promotion regarding 'the aversion to divorce' and 'the continuous identification of factors leading to divorce and family breakdown' and 'preventing social harms and factors destabilizing the family institution, especially the issue of divorce.' 'Effective confrontation with the soft war of enemies aimed at the collapse and deviation of family relationships' is another issue emphasized in the general family policies.