Country of origin information report Iran January 2010

Return to contents

Go to list of sources

Marriage
23.22 The USSD Report 2008 stated:
“Although a male can marry at age 15 without parental consent, the law states that a virgin female needs the consent of her father or grandfather to wed, or the court's permission, even if she is older than 18. The country's Islamic law permits a man to have as many as four wives and an unlimited number of sigheh, based on a Shia custom in which a woman may become the wife of a Muslim male after a simple religious ceremony and a civil contract outlining the union's conditions. Such wives were not granted rights associated with traditional marriage. The government does not recognize marriages between Muslim women and non-Muslim men or Baha'i marriages.” [4a] (Section 5)
See ‘Sigheh’ or temporary marriage below
23.23 A BBC News article dated 10 June 2008 reported that being married is a job requirement in some areas despite economic difficulties leading many people to postpone marriage. [21f]
See also Legal Rights above
‘Sigheh’ or temporary marriage
23.24 An article in the Guardian dated 4 June 2007 stated: “The custom of sigheh, which allows couples to establish unions lasting from a few minutes to 99 years, is permitted under Shia Islam but has been likened in Iran to prostitution … Sigheh children are classed as legitimate.” [16j]
23.25 An Inter Press News Agency article dated 26 June 2007 explained temporary marriage in the following terms:
“Under temporary marriages, practiced largely by Shiites and banned by most Sunni sects, there are no limits as to the number of temporary wives a man can take. Unlike in Sunni communities, having multiple permanent wives is quite rare among Iranian Shiites. A temporary marriage does not have to have witnesses or be registered anywhere, although it is always possible to register a marriage with a notary.
“Just an agreement between the parties involved and a few sentences uttered in Arabic, or even in one’s own language, are enough for the temporary marriage to be done. The husband has the exclusive right to terminate the marriage at any point he wishes, even before the term is over and without the wife’s consent.
“Widely practised in Iran by married and more rarely by single men, temporary marriages are largely looked down upon by traditional Iranian society, even among the very religious. In nearly all cases, women who enter into temporary marriages are divorcees or widows. Virgin women need have permission from their father or paternal grandfather to enter into such a marriage, and temporary marriages involving young unmarried women are quite uncommon except among the extremely needy.
“Unlike the usual marriage, a temporary marriage does not create any financial obligations for the man, who is only obliged to pay an agreed amount of money as dowry to the woman at the time of marriage, upon being asked during the marriage or at the time of its termination.” [100a]
23.26 On 28 January 2005 it was reported by the UNHCR Ankara Country of Origin Information team in its ‘Chronology of Events in Iran’, revised March 2005, that the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, “…expressed deep concern over the fact that the age of majority in Iran is 15 for boys and 9 for girls, which implies that [children] are not protected by the Convention above these ages. This could also result in ‘forced, early and temporary marriages,’ the committee said.” [3k]
23.27 The USSD Report 2008 stated:
“The country's Islamic law permits a man to have as many as four wives and an unlimited number of sigheh [temporary relationships], based on a Shia custom in which a woman may become the wife of a Muslim male after a simple religious ceremony and a civil contract outlining the union's conditions. Such wives were not granted rights associated with traditional marriage.” [4a] (Section 5)
23.28 The USSD Report 2008 also stated:
“Prostitution is illegal, but it took place under the legal cover of ‘sigheh,’ or temporary marriage. International press reports described prostitution as a widespread problem. The problem appeared aggravated by difficult economic conditions and rising numbers of drug users and runaway children. In March authorities arrested Tehran police chief Reza Zarei after he was discovered in a brothel during a police raid.” [4a] (Section 5)
Return to contents

Go to list of sources
Mehriyeh
23.29 A response to an information request, dated 28 October 2004, by the Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation (ACCORD) listed the variations of mehriyeh as Mahr / Mehr / Mehryeh / Mahrieh and Mahriyeh. [133a]
23.30 The same source stated that mehriyeh is similar to a dowry except that a husband pays it to his wife. The money belongs to the wife who can claim it at any time during the marriage and the husband has to pay or go to prison. (ACCORD, 28 October 2004) [133a]
23.31 The article, ‘A Wedding, Tehrani Style’ by B. Bagheri, reported that:
“One of the most important details to be agreed upon is to set a ‘mehriyeh’. This is the amount of monetary compensation that the future husband will have to pay his wife in the unfortunate case of a divorce. Mehriyeh has proven to be a fairly effective insurance policy for the women in a society where there are limited options after a divorce. The process of setting the mehriyeh amount is sometimes the subject of much controversy and business-like negotiations, occasionally causing one side (or both) to call the whole thing off! For many aristocratic and modern Iranian families, a high mehriyeh is a status symbol, while many religious and orthodox families, as well as the intellectual types, express their confidence and faith in the future strength of the new marriage by setting the mehriyeh to be a very small token amount or simply a copy of the holy book of Ghoraan (The Moslem holy book of Qoran) and a couple of pieces of Iranian crystal sugar rocks! The sugar is to symbolise the sweetness and joy that is intended and sought from the marriage.” [51]
23.32 An article dated 2 October 2009 by a Professor of Sociology and Women’s Studies at Purdue University, published on Payvand’s Iran News website stated that anecdotal evidence indicated that “…the practice of mahr/mehrieh, whereby the groom promises an amount of money to his bride, has been growing rather than declining in Iran.” The article suggested that women’s limited employment opportunities and being unable to rely on a steady income may partially explain this trend. [53a]
Return to contents

Go to list of sources
Adultery
23.33 Book 2 of the Islamic Penal Code of Iran defines adultery and refers to punishments for committing adultery (Articles 63 to 102). Punishments include flogging, stoning and, in certain situations, death. (Mission for Establishment of Human Rights in Iran [MEHR]) [66a] There have been several reports of execution for adultery in recent years. (Freedom House report 2008) [112c]
23.34 On 29 October 2009, Amnesty International reported that:
“The majority of those sentenced to death by stoning are women, who suffer disproportionately from such punishment. One reason is that they are not treated equally before the law and courts, in clear violation of international fair trial standards. The age of criminal responsibility for women is lower than that for men and a woman's testimony is worth only half that of a man. They are particularly vulnerable to unfair trials because in Iran they are more likely than men to be illiterate and more likely to sign confessions to crimes they did not commit. Discrimination against women in other aspects of their lives also leaves them more susceptible to conviction for adultery, said Amnesty.” [9m]
23.35 The USSD Report 2008 noted that:
“A man could escape punishment for killing a wife caught in the act of adultery if he was certain she was a consenting partner; the same rule does not apply for women whose husbands committed adultery. Women sometimes received disproportionate punishment for crimes such as adultery, including death sentences. The law provides that a victim of stoning is allowed to go free if he or she escapes; however, it is much harder for women to escape, as they are buried to their necks, whereas men are buried to their waists.” [4a] (Section 5)
Divorce
23.36 The Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board (CIRB) report, ‘Women in the Islamic Republic of Iran’ (June 1994), stated that divorce applies to permanent marriage only (see subsection on ‘Sigheh’ or temporary marriage above for informations about temporary unions). A husband wishing to divorce is required to obtain court permission to register the divorce if his wife does not agree to it, but registration can only be delayed by the court, not prevented. A husband is not required to cite a reason for divorcing his wife. The conditions under which a woman may divorce depend on the year that she married, and the legislation that was in effect at the time of her marriage. [2d] In December 2002 BBC News reported that the Guardian Council had approved a bill giving women the right to ask for divorce on 12 specific grounds e.g. addiction, imprisonment and emotional difficulties – although this does not constitute full equal rights. [21x] Divorced women, particularly in rural areas, may find themselves socially isolated and may face financial difficulty. (EU Council, 2 February 1998) [19a] (p19)
23.37 The USSD Report 2008 stated: “Women have the right to divorce only if the husband signs a contract granting that right; cannot provide for his family; or is a drug addict, insane, or impotent. A husband was not required to cite a reason for divorcing his wife.” [4a] (Section 5)
23.38 UNHCR expanded on the legal provisions relating to the legal distinctions between cancellation of marriage and divorce in permanent marriages in their ‘Comments on the Iran Country Report of April 2005’ of August 2005 as follows:
“The Civil Code of the Islamic Republic of Iran makes a distinction between the cancellation of marriage and divorce concerning the dissolution of a permanent marriage (Article 1120). A permanent marriage may be cancelled by either one of the couple if the other one is proved to be ‘mad’ (Article 1121). A woman is entitled to cancel a marriage on the basis of the following ‘defects’ in a man: castration, impotency (provided that marriage is not consummated), and amputation of the male sexual organ to the extent his ‘marital duty’ cannot be performed (Article 1122).
“A man is entitled to cancel a marriage on the basis of the following defects: protrusion of the womb, black leprosy, leprosy, connection of vaginal and anal passages, being crippled and being blind in both eyes (Article 1123). However, such defects, except in cases specified below, should exist at the time of marriage and the other party should be ignorant of them to be able to revoke such ‘defects’ as a ground for canceling the marriage. If one of the parties is cognizant of the ‘defects’ in the other party before the celebration of the marriage, he or she loses his or her right to cancel marriage on the basis of such ‘defects’ (Article 1124-1126). A woman is entitled to cancel her marriage on the grounds of ‘madness’ or impotency even if such conditions occur in her husband after the marriage (Article 1126). Cancellation of a marriage does not necessarily follow the procedures stipulated for a divorce (Article 1132)…(p4) A specific regulation is made for the cases where the husband contracts a venereal disease after conducting the marriage, in which case the wife is entitled to refuse sexual intercourse with him while maintaining her right to maintenance costs (nafaqa) (Article 1127).
“According to the Iranian Civil Code, divorcing his wife is an exclusive right of the husband: ‘A man can divorce his wife whenever he wishes to do so’ (Article 1133).
“If the husband refuses to pay, or is unable to pay, the costs of maintenance of his wife, and if it is not possible to enforce payment of such costs by court order, the wife can seek a divorce. In such a case, the judge will compel the husband to divorce her (Article 1129).
“A wife can also seek divorce ‘when it is proved to the Court that the continuation of the marriage causes difficult and undesirable conditions.’ In such cases, the judge can compel the husband to divorce his wife. If this proves difficult, the judge may divorce the couple by court order (Article 1131).” [3h] (p5)
23.39 The USSD Report 2007 stated that: “A widely used model marriage contract limited privileges accorded to men by custom, and traditional interpretations of Islamic law recognized a divorced woman’s right to a share in the property that couples acquire during their marriage and to increased alimony.” [4t] (Section 5)
23.40 In the Report of the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living in its Mission to the Islamic Republic of Iran (19–31 July 2005), dated 21 March 2006, it was noted:
“In [the] case of divorce, the couple’s property is divided equally between the partners only if the man files for divorce under no specific justification apart from his own will. If he presents any legal justification for divorce, the wife loses her right to her share of the assets. If a woman leaves the family house, even in [a] case of domestic violence, this may be considered abandonment of the home and can be used against her if the husband decides to file for divorce.” [10ac] (p21)
23.41 The report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women dated 27 January 2006 stated that:
“Child custody laws also favour men over women. In principle, both the physical custody (hezanat) and the legal guardianship (velayat) of the child belong to the father. While, under certain circumstances, women are granted physical custody, legal guardianship, which includes the authority over decisions regarding the child’s well-being, is almost exclusively given to the father. Following a divorce, physical custody was until recently granted to the mother until age 7 for girls and age 2 for boys. In 2003, the law was changed to allow both children to remain with the mother till age 7, custody is then automatically transferred to the father, or if he is absent or incapable, to another male in his family. If the mother remarries, the physical custody then shifts to the father. Women who have been subjected to violence frequently do not want to risk losing their children and, when faced with such a possibility, they often feel they have no choice but to remain in a relationship with a violent partner.” [10ad] (p14)
23.42 The USSD Report 2008 stated:
“Traditional interpretations of Islamic law recognized a divorced woman's right to part of shared property and to alimony. The law provides divorced women preference in custody for children up to seven years of age; however, divorced women who remarry are forced to give the child's father custody. After the child reaches seven years of age, the father is entitled to custody (except in cases in which the father was proven unfit to care for the child). The court determined custody in disputed cases.” [4a] (Section 5)
23.43 UNHCR expanded on the legal provisions relating to custody of children in their ‘Comments on the Iran Country Report of April 2005’ of August 2005 as follows:
“According to Iranian Civil Code, custody of children belongs to the father. In the case of the dissolution of marriage or the death of the father, ‘the mother shall have a preferential right to the custody of her child in the first two years of the child’s life, after which the father shall have the custody unless the child is a girl in which case she will remain under the mother’s custody until she reaches the age of 7’ (Article 1169).
“An amendment to the legislation in November 2003 increased mothers’ custody rights, including granting the mothers to keep the custody of their sons until the age of 7 (IRNA, Iranian mothers win better child custody rights, 29 November 2003). The mother looses [sic] custody over her children when she becomes ‘insane’ or when she marries another man (Article 1170).
“While the mother may loose [sic] custody of her children if she cannot prove she is financially able to support her children (Asylum Aid, Refugee Women and Domestic Violence: Country Studies – Iran, March 2002, p24-25). According to a report by Asylum Aid on domestic violence in Iran,
“The possibility of a woman keeping her children with her therefore depends on not only on her financial position, but also on her husband’s agreement to forgo his right to custody. In a case of domestic violence, this kind of voluntary concession is likely to be hard to obtain (Asylum Aid, March 2002, p25).” [3h] (p5)
23.44 The report goes on to highlight the distinction between custody and guardianship:
“Iranian Civil Code makes a distinction between custody and guardianship. Even when custody of children is with the mother, ‘natural’ guardianship remains with the father (or paternal grandfather). Therefore, mothers cannot travel outside of Iran without the permission of the father of the child even if the child is in custody of the mother (ACCORD, Iran Country Report: 7th European Country of Origin Information Seminar, June 2001).” [3h] (p5)
23.45 On 19 May 2009 the Tehran Times reported that:
“A new research conducted by Shahid Beheshti University showed that 80% of petitions for divorce were filed by women in the first five years of marriage. Head of the research group, Majid Abhari blamed women’s power of attorney in divorce as the main reason behind such a great rate of petitions filed by women. According to the research, unemployment, poverty, addiction, and consequently lack of mutual understanding are the biggest cause of discords in marriage…According to figures of state Birth Registration Organization, there were a number of 110,510 divorces recorded in 1387 (March 2008-March 2009).
“Men aged between 25 and 29 and women 20 to 24 accounts for the highest rate of divorce, the figure showed. There was a rise of 11% in the country’s divorce rate, compared with the last year.” [50]
Return to contents

Go to list of sources
Dress code
23.46 A CIRB report dated 10 January 2008 observed:
“Women in Iran are required by Iranian penal law to maintain ‘Islamic dress in public’ (US 14 Sept. 2007; Denmark Apr. 2005, 12) and therefore must cover their hair and neck completely and wear clothing that does not reveal the shape of the body (ibid; Reuters 18 Apr. 2006). Men cannot wear shorts and women cannot reveal their hair or ankles (RFE/RL 19 Apr. 2006). Sources describe violations of the dress code to include wearing colourful scarves or tight coats, men sporting ‘Western’ hairstyles (RFE/RL 2 May 2007), women wearing loose-fitting scarves or shortened trousers which expose skin (The Guardian 20 Apr. 2006; BBC 21 Apr. 2006) and women wearing makeup (US 6 Mar. 2007, Sec. 1.c).” [2ag]
23.47 The same source stated:
“According to a report of the Danish Immigration Service, the legal basis for Iranian clothing rules is found in the penal code which ‘stipulates that women that show themselves in public places without Islamic clothing should be sentenced to from ten days to two months imprisonment or a fine’ (Denmark Apr. 2005, 12). Other sources note that people who violate the dress code may have to sign ‘statements pledging not to violate the dress code’ (RFE/RL 2 May 2007) or may receive … lashes (Reuters 18 Apr. 2006) [and/or] fines (Reuters 18 Apr. 2006)” [2ag]
23.48 And further noted:
“While the Danish Immigration Service states that the Director for the consular office in the Iranian foreign ministry ‘reported that the clothing rules were no longer rigorously enforced’, a number of other sources describe the enforcement of rules regarding Islamic appearance since April 2006 as being ‘harsher’ than in previous years. Some sources indicate that a crackdown in advance of summer weather is common but in slight contrast, recent reports indicate that the crackdown has continued into winter months. Reports indicate that police in Tehran are targeting ‘winter fashions deemed immodest’ and that authorities have ‘launched a winter crackdown’ enforcing the dress code.” [2ag]
23.49 The CIRB information request, dated 10 January 2008, continued:
“Enforcement includes punishing taxi agencies and drivers who transport ‘women dressed ‘inappropriately’’ (The Guardian 20 Apr. 2006), stores which sell certain kinds of clothing (RFE/RL 2 May 2007) and hairdressers who offer ‘western hair cuts’, who tattoo eyebrows and pluck men’s eyebrows (The Guardian 25 Aug. 2007; Reuters 20 May 2007).
“According to two sources, new police officers have been assigned to enforce the dress code (RFE/RL 19 Apr. 2006; BBC 21 Apr. 2006). HRW reports that the Basij militia [a government volunteer paramilitary force] are involved in enforcing the ‘‘morality’ campaign’ (17 May 2007). The Guardian reports that Amaken-e Omoomi ‘a police body for regulating businesses’ is responsible for closing down barbers and hairdressers (25 Aug. 2007).” [2ag]
23.50 According to a BBC News report of 12 November 2007, Iranian newspapers have printed a list of moral vices that the police are targeting, including wearing make-up and hats instead of headscarves.The police say they will also suppress ‘decadent’ films, drugs and alcohol. This year has seen one of the most ferocious crackdowns on un-Islamic behaviour and improper Islamic dress by the authorities for at least a decade. [21z]
23.51 The USSD Report 2008 stated that:
“The penal code provides that if a woman appears in public without the appropriate Islamic covering (hijab), she can be sentenced to lashings and/or fined. However, absent a clear legal definition of appropriate hijab or the punishment, women were at the mercy of the disciplinary forces or the judge. Pictures of uncovered or immodestly dressed women in the press or in films were often digitally altered.” [4a] (Section 5)
Return to contents

Go to list of sources
Women in the workplace
23.52 Women in Iran require their husband’s permission to work. (The Guardian, 6 October 2009) [16d] Women workers are subject to difficulties in the work place particularly as a result of entrenched cultural attitudes. (BBC News, 2 August 2003) [21t]
23.53 In the Center for Iranian Studies (CIS) report of September 2007 it is noted that:
“… women comprise only 14 percent of the government’s work force and those who occupy top positions are usually keen supporters of the regime and occasionally related to the ruling elite … While Iranian women are among the most highly educated in the Middle East, their unemployment rate is particularly high - 13 percent across the board and over 22 percent among women”. [94a]
23.54 However, a Guardian article, dated 2 January 2008, noted that:
“Katajun Amirpur, Islamic expert at the University of Cologne, points out that Iran is still a society ‘in which girls can be married at the age of nine, where women can be punished for having pre-marital sex, where they cannot become judges or presidents, they are banned from football stadiums, and where the wearing of the chador is obligatory.’
“‘At the same time, a third of the work force is female, two-thirds of students are women, there are female MPs, doctors, mayors, policewomen, taxi drivers. Karate is the most popular female sport, and 97% of women can read and write. The reality is that women are exceptionally self-confident members of Iranian society’.” [16i]
23.55 An article on Payvand’s Iran News website dated 2 October 2009 stated that 30 years after the 1979 revolution in Iran “... women constitute only 15% of the formal sector paid labor force (that is, those entitled to paid holidays, maternity leave, pension, and other provisions of labor law). According to the results of the 1385/2006 Iranian census, only 3.5 million Iranian women are salaried workers, compared with 23.5 million men.” The census also showed that women constituted less that 20% of the work force. Furthermore:
“Some 33% of Iran's female labor force is in professional jobs, concentrated in education, healthcare, and social services, hardly a seismic shift from the pre-revolutionary period in terms of gender roles. Slightly over half of all teachers in Iran are women, but the proportion of female university teaching staff is, at 20%, less than that of Algeria (41%), Tunisia (40%), Turkey (38%), and Bahrain (36%). Iranian census data reveal no evidence of a shift to the FIRE [finance, insurance and real estate jobs] sector, and less than 4% of employed women are found in senior or executive or managerial positions.” [53a]
Education
23.56 The USSD Report 2008 noted that:
“Women had access to primary and advanced education. Reportedly 65 percent of university students were women; however, government officials admitted the use of quotas to limit women's university admissions in certain fields, such as medicine and engineering. In addition, social and legal constraints limited their professional opportunities. Women were represented in many fields of the work force, including the legislature, municipal councils, police, and firefighters. According to a World Economic Forum report, the unemployment rate for women was 17 percent, compared with 10 percent for men. Women cannot serve as president or as certain types of judges. Women may be consultant and research judges without the power to impose sentences.” [4a] (Section 5)
23.57 A Guardian article of 6 October 2009, written by the Nobel Peace Prize winner, Shirin Ebadi, observed that “Iran today is a country where women are more educated than their male compatriots; more than 60% of university students are female, as are many university professors.” The article noted, however, that despite achievements such as this, there were discriminatory regulations against women. [16d]
See Children, Education