Eight young Women Arrested In Iran For Dressing As Men In Order To Attend Soccer Game

Women Arrested In Iran For Dressing As Men In Order To Attend Soccer Game. (Memri).

Iran's Islamic law bans women from attending public soccer matches attended by men, and women who have attempted to do so have been arrested in the past. Additionally, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei recently issued a fatwa banning women from riding bicycles in public, arguing that doing so attracts the male gaze and is therefore forbidden.

This report will discuss ways in which women are being pushed out of public spaces in Iran:

On February 12, 2017, Iranian authorities arrested eight young women who had disguised themselves as men in order to watch a soccer match between Esteghlal F.C. and Persepolis F.C. at Tehran's Azadi Stadium. According to reports, the women face legal action.

Alireza Adeli, head of security for the Tehran municipality, stated that this was not the first time that women have disguised themselves as men in order to enter the stadium, and stressed that the ban was aimed at "preserving their honor, because the stadium's atmosphere, commotion, and crowds are no place for them. 

Dear women who wish to watch the match can do so on TV, which broadcasts the games and gives everyone a way to watch them live."[1]

Social media users posted sarcastic and angry remarks about the arrest:

"Thanks to the vigilance of [security] forces, eight girls who intended to enter Azadi Stadium were arrested, and peace returned to the hearts of ideologues. Death to the anti-woman Trump" (Twitter.com/AhmadAfrazande, February 16, 2017)

"Instead of [calling the stadium] Azadi [freedom] – [call it] Incarceration Stadium – a stadium that symbolizes the humiliation and wretcheness of a chained nation" (Twitter.com/shahabtx, February 14, 2017)

"Sad that the girls were barred from entering the stadium. This is ridiculous" (Twitter.com/fadaei9, February 16, 2017)

Tweet by journalist Enayat Hoseinian: "All our problems in this match [involve] the lack of female presence in Azadi Stadium; they arrested eight girls who managed to get in. So what? Good for them?" (Twitter.com/enayathoseinian, February 14, 2017)

Saudi Arabia has allegedly arrested a number of female models over their photos in an exhibition of luxurious cars.

Saudi Arabia has allegedly arrested a number of female models over their photos in an exhibition of luxurious cars. (IFP).

Pictures of young Saudi female models posing in front of the pavilion of a luxurious car company at a local show went viral on social media, prompting a punitive action from the Kingdom authorities.
Saudi authorities say organizers of a motor show have violated the principles of the Islamic Shariah by using young models.

Saudi National Program for Conventions and Exhibitions has taken penal action against the organizer of the 10th edition of the Luxury Motor Show (EXCS), Jeddah for a number of violations, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Thursday.


'According to a report by Asr-e Iran, as translated by IFP, four female models have already been arrested as of Saturday.'

The program has found the organizer guilty of violating the principles of the Islamic Shariah and the Saudi customs and traditions as well as the regulations of the Ministry of Labor and Social Development.

The Program emphasized that the Islamic values and customs shall be fully adhered to while organizing any exhibitions and conventions as well as the regulations for issuing licenses for holding exhibitions and events, Samaa TV reported.

Earlier, the Jeddah Police detained officials of the Motor Show organizing company and some other car companies as part of their investigation into the violations. This was in line with a directive from Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, emir of Makkah and advisor to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, SPA reported.


According to reports, the organizers of the show, which opened on Tuesday in Jeddah, had reportedly violated the principles of the Islamic Shariah and the Saudi customs and traditions. An investigation into the violations has been launched following the pictures of young Saudi women models posing in front of the pavilion of a luxurious car company at the show went viral on social media.

Video - Pakistani Policeman Slaps Female Anchor During Live Report.

Video - Pakistani Policeman Slaps Female Journalist During Live Report. (Sputnik).

Saima Kanwal, reporter with Pakistani news channel K-21 was doing a live report on the problems faced by the peoples at the Nadra registration center in Karachi when a Pakistani Frontier Constabulary trooper deployed as a guard slapped her face.

Frontier Constabulary personnel first tried to stop the news reporter Saima Kanwal from entering the premises of the Nadra registration office and then the guards tried to stop the cameraman from taking the video footage of the office area.

Meanwhile, Saima Kanwal started asking questions with the security guard about why he had been misbehaving with the women present at the registration office then suddenly one of the Frontier Constabulary guard slapped her very hard and also fired his gun in the air. Read the full story here.

Iranian MP: Religious Rules Apply if Women Attend Sports Stadia.

Iranian MP: Religious Rules Apply if Women Attend Sports Stadia. (Iranfrontpage).

The views of grand ayatollahs should be considered, even if the presence of women in sports stadiums to watch certain matches does not face any opposition, MP Ali Motahhari has said.

Motahhari, a member of the Majlis Cultural Committee, also said if women are going to attend sports stadiums, religious rules should still be observed, Fararu reported on Monday.

For instance, women should enter sport complexes from separate entrances, and their seats should not be very near men’s, the MP explained.

Referring to women’s attendance at volleyball matches in the past, he said there was no particular problem in this regard, and only that religious rules should be taken into account.

The Interior Ministry and the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs are preparing a bylaw for the presence of women in sporting events, Motahhari said.

Although the vice president for women and family affairs Shahindokht Molaverdi has great efforts for women’s entry into sporting arenas, women were not allowed to watch the 2015 FIVB Volleyball World League in Tehran.


Quoting materials from Iran Front Page is permitted only if the source is mentioned by name.

Video - Saudi Family Therapist Khaled Gives Advice on Wife Beating, The 'Women's Desire for Equality Causes Marital Strife'.

Video - Saudi Family Therapist Khaled Gives Advice on Wife Beating, The 'Women's Desire for Equality Causes Marital Strife'. Memri.

In an online video, Saudi family therapist Khaled Al-Saqaby imparted advice on marital strife. Beating one's wife, said Al-Saqaby, should be intended as a means of discipline, rather than to vent one's anger, and should be carried out not with a rod or a sharp object, but with a tooth-cleaning twig or a handkerchief. "Unfortunately, some wives want to live a life of equality with their husband," he said. "This is a very grave problem." The video was posted on the Internet on February 24, 2016.

Video - British-Palestinian Women’s Rights Activist Ahlam Akram: We Cannot Continue to Teach Jihad at Schools and Expect Society to Respect Women, Non-Muslims

Video - British-Palestinian Women’s Rights Activist Ahlam Akram: We Cannot Continue to Teach Jihad at Schools and Expect Society to Respect Women, Non-Muslims. (MEMRI).

British-Palestinian women’s rights activist Ahlam Akram said, in an interview with the Saudi channel Al-Khalijiyya TV, that the women of the East "must break out of the shell in which society has placed them." She criticized leading Muslim Brotherhood scholar Yousuf Al-Qaradhawi for divorcing his wife in her absence, saying that "Al-Qaradhawi and his ilk are a disaster to the Arab region" and adding that people cannot expect society to respect women and religious minorities when Jihad and the doctrine of "loyalty and disavowal" are taught at the schools. The interview aired on January 17, 2016.

Ahlam Akram: "Muslim jurisprudence regarding women has paralyzed half of society, making it closed up within itself, always fighting for justice. Justice and mercy are the most important attributes of Allah. Current laws (regarding women) deny justice and mercy."

Host: "Are you calling for the abolishment of jurisprudence regarding women?"

Ahlam Akram: "This kind of jurisprudence should not be taught, because it tarnishes the image of Muhammad, the Prophet of mercy. All the laws that stem from this type of jurisprudence are based on certain hadiths. Can I, as a Muslim-born human being, accept these repulsive hadiths? No way! They are not in line with the personality of the Prophet Muhammad himself. Therefore, the jurisprudence regarding women, along with the doctrine of 'loyalty and disavowal,' which has built a wall between us and the rest of the world..."

Host: "You are talking about hadiths fabricated in order to control..."

Ahlam Akram: "Of course. These hadiths are fabricated in order to gain control over society, and especially over the women. The doctrine of 'loyalty and disavowal,' the doctrine of Jihad, used by ISIS to attract the youth, the doctrine of dhimmis, which denies our fellow citizens their basic rights as citizens and human beings... We cannot continue to teach these things at schools, and then expect society to respect women or people of other religions.

[...]

"The message I would like to convey to the women of the East is that they must break out of the shell in which society has placed them – a situation that has been abused by the religious jurisprudents. I'd like to make women feel that they are human beings just like men. I would also like to send a message to Arab legislators, who, under the notion of 'honor,' justify killers or collaborate with them, by allowing mitigated sentences for killers of women."

[...]

Host: "In a recent article, you criticized Yousuf Al-Qaradhawi for divorcing his wife, Asmaa bin Qada, in her absence."

Ahlam Akram: "Yousuf Al-Qaradhawi and his ilk are a disaster for the Arab region, I'm sad to say. They reaffirm the tyrannical rule of men (over women), and paralyze the Arab mind. I don't know what else to say... The past 40 years, which have witnessed the rise of political Islam, and in which TV channels have been used in the worst possible way... These past 40 years have brought upon us a cultural change, which has rendered our society more extremist, more violent, and has intensified the denial of the other. (The fault lies with) Yousuf Al-Qaradhawi and his ilk."

Video - Qatari Educational clip to Girls: Not Wearing Hijab Defies Allah, Brings You Closer to Satan.

Qatari Educational clip to Girls: Not Wearing Hijab Defies Allah, Brings You Closer to Satan.

An animated video called "Salma and the Hijab," posted on the Internet, aims at educating girls about proper Islamic attire. The video was produced as educational software for "Boys and Girls," the children's section of the Qatari government-owned Internet portal Islamweb.net, which includes many educational videos. A large number of these videos were posted on various YouTube accounts. The "Salma and the Hijab" video was posted on February 17, 2016.

Video - Bill Maher Schooling Liberal MP Chrystia Freeland: “All religions are alike and we do share values: B.S.”

Caution strong language use.

Video - Graphic Video Shows Afghan Woman Stoned to Death for Eloping

Video - Graphic Video Shows Afghan Woman Stoned to Death for Eloping. (NDTv)

Kabul: A young Afghan woman who was married against her will has been stoned to death by extremists after she was caught eloping with another man, local officials told AFP on Tuesday.

A graphic video of the stoning shows the woman, named as Rokhsahana, aged between 19 and 21, in a hole in the ground as men almost casually hurl stones at her with sickening thuds.

Rokhsahana was heard repeating the shahada, or Muslim profession of faith, her voice growing increasingly high-pitched in the nearly 30-second clip run in Afghan media. Local authorities confirmed the footage.

The killing took place about a week ago in Ghalmeen, an area some 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the Ghor provincial capital of Firozkoh, governor Seema Joyenda said.

Rokhsahana had been "stoned to death by Taliban, local religious leaders and irresponsible armed warlords," Ms Joyenda told AFP.

Seema Joyenda, one of Afghanistan's only two female governors, said that according to authorities' information Rokhsahana's family had "married her to someone against her will and she was eloping with a man her age".

She condemned the stoning, calling on Kabul to take action to "clean the area".

"This is the first incident in this area but will not be the last. Women in general have problems all over the country, but especially in Ghor... The man with whom she was eloping has not been stoned."

Ghor police chief Mustafa Mohseni told AFP that the incident happened in a Taliban-controlled area, confirming that it was the first such incident "this year". Hmmmm.....Welcome to A.D. 660.

French Muslim grocery sparks outcry by introducing male & female shopping days.

French Muslim grocery sparks outcry by introducing male and female shopping days. (RT).

A grocery store in Bordeaux has caused a furor among local residents after the store's owners, who are newly converted to Islam, reserved gender-specific days for its customers to make sure that men's and women's paths never cross.

The “De L'Orient à L'Occidental” grocery in Bordeaux has put a sign on its front door saying that “sisters” can only shop during the weekend, while “brothers” are welcome at the store twice as often – on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. Bordeaux Mayor Alain Juppé has condemned the initiative, calling it "unacceptable," and saying it "totally contradicts the republic's rules of equality and diversity."

The mayor has called on the authorities to "address this issue in order to stop such discriminatory practices and implement measures, which the law provides in such circumstances," LePoint.fr reported. Discrimination cases can see penalties of up to three years in prison and fines of up to €45,000.

The head of French equality group ACSE, Naima Charai, wrote on Twitter that gender-related opening hours are "unimaginable and unacceptable," adding that "respect for the republic" is supposed to be 24/7.

The owner of the business, Jean-Baptiste Michalon, has defended his move, telling French newspaper Sud Ouest that he "didn’t know it was forbidden" by law. "It was for a savvy public that knows that our practice of [Muslim] religion does not allow the mix.”

“It's not an obligation, everyone does what he wants," said Michalon, a recent convert Islam who has taken the name Yahya. The grocery store sells religious books, some traditional clothes and food. Michalon runs it with his wife Soumaya, who also recently converted to Islam (her name used to be Jessica).

"We have put it in place at the request of the 'sisters' who preferred to shop when my wife was behind the counter (...) This is a store which also sells clothes," he explained. "It shocks me to hear some calling it discrimination," Michalon told the Sud Ouest paper, citing the existence of "hammams with timetables for men and women."

The grand imam of Bordeaux, Tareq Oubrou, appeared to be among those who slammed gender-related opening hours at the “De L'Orient à L'Occidental” grocery store.

"We never saw that at the time of the Prophet! The markets were mixed,” Oubrou told France 3 Aquitaine, adding that the practice of gender-specific days for customers "seemed a bit odd in a world where diversity is an established culture."

According to the imam, it was more like the owners' "psychological than theological choice." Read the full story here.

Erdogan targets actress who opposed mosque in İstanbul’s historic fortress, hints at Vatican plot.

Erdogan targets actress who opposed mosque in İstanbul’s historic fortress, hints at Vatican plot. (TZ).

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Thursday lambasted an actress who called for artists to join forces to prevent construction of a masjid inside the historic Rumelihisarı fortress along the shores of the Bosporus.

“Someone claimed to be an artist comes out at an award ceremony and says ‘we will not let a masjid be built here.' Who are you expelling from whose land? It is already a place of worship,” Erdoğan said in a speech at a ceremony in Ankara marking the inauguration of a series of projects undertaken by the Turkish Cooperation and Development Agency (TİKA).

The artist Erdoğan targeted in his speech was actress Defne Halman, who called on Turkey's artists to unite forces to oppose the planned mosque which will be built on an amphitheater inside Rumelihisarı, which has been used as a concert venue for decades.

Erdoğan defended the masjid construction, praising those who undertook the project. “Those who fail to honor their past can have no future. No one will be able to prevent this,” Erdoğan said.

Apparently referring to the opposition pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), which has pledged to abolish Turkey's Religious Affairs Directorate, the president added, “Those who attack the Diyanet [Religious Affairs Directorate] and remain silent in the face of the Vatican's activities to the detriment of our country will not be able to prevent it either.” Hmmmm....Cause with 17,000 new Mosques you are bound to be short of mosques? Read the full story here.

Female South African Writer Who Expressed Admiration for Rushdie interned in mental institution.

Female South African Writer Who Expressed Admiration for Rushdie interned in mental institution. (Pen).

PEN American Center expressed outrage at the harassment and confinement in a mental institution of South African psychologist and novelist Zainub Priya Dala (ZP Dala) exacted in reprisal for her comments in appreciation of the writing of former PEN American Center President Salman Rushdie.

Speaking at a literary event at a school several weeks ago, Dala voiced public appreciation for Rushdie's work. Shortly thereafter she was the victim of a violent attack in which the attackers referenced her praise for Rushdie.

She was hit in the face with a brick and had a knife held to her throat, resulting in a broken cheekbone. 

Regrettably, rather than rallying around Dala, some members of the local Muslim community in Durban, South Africa, have ostracized Dala, putting her under extreme pressure to renounce her statement about Rushdie's work, repent for her "sins," and to make a public vow of religious loyalty to Islam.

When she continued to refuse to make a religious vow or other statements inconsistent with her personal beliefs she was admitted to a mental institution.

A psychologist by profession, Dala is the mother of a young child and ultimately consented to go to the hospital to avoid intense and intrusive harassment at her home. She also reports continued questioning about her beliefs by hospital staff.

PEN America calls for Dala's immediate and unconditional release from institutionalization and demands that all parties cease their questioning and harassment of her for her opinions and beliefs.

It calls upon all competent South African authorities, including President Zuma, the courts, and the police, to ensure Ms. Dala's safety and to prevent reprisals against her freedom of expression and thought.

"It is terrifying that in an open democracy like South Africa an individual could be taken to a mental institution for voicing their opinions about an author or a book," said PEN America Executive Director Suzanne Nossel, who was visiting South Africa and had contact with Ms. Dala. Read the full story here.

Turkey - During the AK Party's terms in power, murders of women have increased by an estimated 1,400 percent

Turkey - During the AK Party's terms in power, murders of women have increased by an estimated 1,400 percent. (TZ).

At least 113 female laborers died in Turkey in 2014, according to a recent press release from the Worker Health and Work Safety Women's Council.

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) has fallen under much criticism in terms of incompetently protecting women and laborers.

Within the first 10 months of 2014, 1,600 laborers died in job-related incidents, including in mining tragedies that occurred in Soma, a town in Manisa province, and Ermenek, a town in Karaman province, which claimed the lives of 301 and 18 miners, respectively.

“During the AK Party's terms in power, murders of women have increased by an estimated 1,400 percent, and there are around four women murdered by men every day. 

Sexual assault and rape have almost become commonplace. Furthermore, due to the AK Party's premise of the 'holistic family' and the role of the housewife,' female laborers have become invisible. Safe working conditions are not provided for women working in other sectors and industries [outside of the house].”

According to recent figures reported by bianet.org, 235 women were killed by men in the first 10 months of 2014. Hmmmm....."Advanced Islamist Democracy", Keep Turkey OUT OF EUROPE!
Read the full story here.

Video - Iranian young woman dances on Tehran's metro in protest against laws

Full story here @ Telegraph.

Erdoğan’s comments on gender ‘against Turkish Constitution’

Erdoğan’s comments on gender ‘against Turkish Constitution’. (TZ).

An activist who was kicked out of the Women and Justice Summit organized by the Women and Democracy Association (KADEM) on Monday has said Erdoğan committed an unconstitutional act by saying men and women are not equal.

Yılmaz also commented on the president's comments, saying: “He has no right to say this because he, as the president, has to act in accordance with the Constitution, and the Constitution states that men and women are equal. As long as he is the president, he cannot speak like this. It is a criminal offense. He has overstepped his boundaries.” Read the full story here.

"Advanced 'Islamist' Democracy" - Turkish President Erdoğan says women’s equality with men ‘against nature’.

“Thank God Almighty,” said Mr. Erdogan in 1994, when he was the mayor of Istanbul. “I am a servant of Shariah.” 

"Advanced 'Islamist' Democracy" - Turkish President Erdoğan says women’s equality with men ‘against nature’. (HD).

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan appears set to anger women and rights groups in the country once again after voicing his strong objection to the equality of women and men, instead suggesting what he called “equivalency.”

“Equality is turning the victim into an oppressor by force or vice versa. What women need is to be able to be equivalent, rather than equal,” the president said.

He also reiterated an argument he voiced in the past, announcing: “You cannot bring women and men into equal positions; that is against nature because their nature is different.”

The president then went on to explain that Islam exalts women as “mothers” and said that when he was a child he used to kiss his mother's feet, referring to a hadith of Prophet Muhammad that says “Heaven lies at the foot of your mother.”

“My mother would be shy, but I used to say, ‘Mother, don't pull your feet away, because the scent of heaven is there.' Sometimes, she would cry [when I would say that],” Erdoğan said.

He also slammed feminists, saying they “don't accept the concept of motherhood.”

“But those who do understand are enough for us. We'll continue down this path with them,” he said. Read the full story here.

Flashback: Rare clip with Turkey's Prime Minister Erdogan lashing out at feminists. In the late-1990s an AKP figure by the name of Cemil Çiçek served as the Minister for Family Affairs in Turkey. In a public statement, he noted that 'flirting is slutty.' In protest, 30 feminist women were divorced from their husbands showing how they can 'shape and determine their own lives' without government approval. Erdogan reacted furiously. When he became mayor of Istanbul, he held a speech backing his counterpart.

UK May Introduce Bill Criminalizing Domestic 'Coercive Control': Reports.

UK May Introduce Bill Criminalizing Domestic 'Coercive Control': Reports. (Sp). 


The UK Home Office will reportedly introduce a new bill which would subject those who exercise coercive control over their partners to imprisonment for up to 14 years, Sky News reported Sunday.

The broadcaster said the bill was expected to reveal domestic abuse much earlier before partners suffer significantly. It also said about 1.2 million UK women had become victims of domestic abuse annually.

According to Harry Fletcher, director of the charity Digital-Trust, women tend not to report domestic violence to law enforcement bodies due to lack of confidence in the British judicial system.

"The main reason women don't report incidents to police is a lack of confidence in the judicial system and a real fear that the behaviour of the perpetrator might escalate as a result of doing that," Sky News quoted Fletcher as saying.

The new act is expected to take effect before the General Election in the United Kingdom in 2015. Hmmm.......

Christian couple beaten, cremated alive in brick kiln for desecrating Koran in Pakistan.

Christian couple beaten, cremated alive in brick kiln for desecrating Koran in Pakistan. (RT).

The killings took place in the town of Kot Radha Kishan, 60 kilometers southwest of Lahore, the capital of Punjab province, on Tuesday morning.

"A mob attacked a Christian couple after accusing them of desecration of the holy Koran and later burned their bodies at a brick kiln where they worked," Bin-Yameen, a local police station official, told AFP.

The police only identified the victims by their first names Shama and Shehzad, adding that they were husband and wife.

According to some Pakistani media reports, the two were still alive when they were dragged into the stove, with some reports even suggesting that the woman was pregnant.

Shama and Shehzad were allegedly held hostage since November 2 before being killed by the mob, who were armed with clubs.

"A mob of several dozen attacked the building where they were," Sardar Mushtaq Gill, a Christian rights activist, was cited by NBC News as saying. "They broke their legs so they couldn't run and then threw them in the fire. Only some bones and hair were found at the site."

The killing took place in the presence of police, who were unable to stop the raging crowd, Gill added.

The Punjabi authorities launched an investigation into the crime, ordering security beefed up in the province’s Christian communities.

On Wednesday, the police detained 44 people in connection with the attack, which they described as "a local issue incited by the mullah of a local mosque."

“No particular sectarian group or religious outfit was behind the attack,” Jawad Qamar, regional police chief, told Reuters.

Human rights watchdog Amnesty International said that those responsible for the Punjab murder “must be brought to justice,” urging Pakistani authorities to increase protection of religious minorities.

"This vicious mob killing is just the latest manifestation of the threat of vigilante violence which anyone can face in Pakistan after a blasphemy accusation – although religious minorities are disproportionately vulnerable," said David Griffiths, Amnesty International's deputy Asia Pacific director. Read the full story here.

Video - Kazakhstan "Stealing the Bride", Tribal custom or Kidnapping?

Video - Kazakhstan "Stealing the Bride", Tribal custom or Kidnapping? (NYPost).

Forcibly seizing a woman and marrying her is very common in Kazakhstan, according to CEN.

The shocking deed was jokingly made famous by Sacha Baron Cohen in his 2006 hit, “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.” In the movie, Borat kidnaps Pamela Anderson because he wants to marry her — a scene which is meant to be ridiculous and funny, but is also very accurate and startling.

In reality, an anxious groom will pay relatives and friends to use deception, cohesion or force to physically take a girl and bring her to his home.

Once she arrives, the girls in his family will dress the kidnapped bride in a special neckerchief called an Oramal — something Kazakh women must accept to show their “consent” to marriage. Hmmm.....Marriage kidnappings happen also in Egypt , India.... etc but usually They captue Non Muslim Brides. Read the full story here.

UNICEF: Some 33 percent of Iranian Girls marry while underage.

Some 33 percent of Iranian Girls marry while underage. (Taz).

In its new report published on July 22, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has warned about prevalence of the child marriage around the world.

Worldwide, more than 700 million women alive today got married as children, the report said, underlining that more than 1 in 3 - or some 250 million - of them were married before the age of 15.

Almost half of all child brides worldwide live in South Asia; 1 in 3 are in India, the report remarked. Middle East and North Africa share 5 percent of women who were married before age 18.

The latest statistics released by Iran's National Organization for Civil Registration indicates that over one third of women who married in the nine-month period from March to Dec. 2013 were under 19.

Number of girls under the age of 19 who were married in the mentioned period stood at 208,859, with 30,956 of these girls were married under age 15.

The organization put the total number of marriages in Iran at 579,871 during the period.

The official statistics also show that 829,968 marriages were registered in Iran during the 12-month period from March 2012 to March 2013; of that amount 305,770 were child brides (36.8 percent).

However some experts believe that the official figures do not tell the whole story, while in some regions underage marriages are not registered.

Early in Dec. 2013, Iran's official IRNA news agency quoted Iranian demography expert, Shahla Kazemipour as saying in some regions underage marriages are not registered due to brides' under legal age and it is only after a pregnancy that steps are taken to register the marriage.

It should be noted that Iran's domestic laws permit marriage under 18 however the Islamic Republic is a signatory to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which forbids that.

According to the article 1041 of the country's Civil Code, "marriage of girls before the age of 13 and boys before the age of 15 is contingent upon the permission of the guardian and upon the condition of the child's best interests as determined by a competent court."

Some Iranian human rights activists recently wrote a letter to the UN high commissioner for human rights Navi Pillay calling on her to investigate the issue of marriages of young and underage girls in Iran.

UNICEF in its recent report warns about the future of the girls who marry underage. "They are not only denied their childhood, they are often socially isolated - cut off from family and friends and other sources of support - with limited opportunities for education and employment," the report said.