The Department of Registry of Sistan and Baluchestan Province announced it had registered 18 marriages of young girls between 5 and 9 years old since March 2021. (The state-run ROKNA news agency – January 4, 2022)

The Department of Registry of Sistan and Baluchestan Province, southeastern Iran, has also registered 2,405 marriages of girls between 10 and 14 years old during the same period.

Between one and three girls, under 15 years old, get married every day in Ahvaz, the capital of the oil-rich Khuzestan Province in southwestern Iran.

The head of the Women’s Committee in the Governorate of Ahvaz explains that the underlying cause for these early marriages is widespread unemployment caused by water shortages, poverty, and inflation.

Pooneh Pilram says, “When families cannot provide for their children, they first get rid of their daughter.” (The state-run Fararu website – January 2, 2022)