Iran’s population push raises fears for women’s health and rights

New law offers incentives for newlyweds and new mothers but fresh restrictions on contraceptives, abortions and sex education could endanger women, writes Borzou Daragahi

A typical woman in Iran has her first child at 28 or 29 years old, a statistic which has long worried the most conservative and hardline elements within Iran’s leadership (EPA)

For a decade, Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei has been agitating to eliminate the country’s family planning laws and limited access to contraceptives for women – all in hopes of reversing declining birth rates.

Now, backed by hardliners dominating all branches of the national government, Mr Khamenei appears to be getting his wish.

Iran’s powerful Council of Guardians, the equivalent of the constitutional court, on 1 November approved a bill called the “Plan for supporting family and rejuvenation of the population” in the wake of lingering concerns about an ageing society and increasingly smaller families.