The organization “Justice for Iran”, citing official statistics from the Civil Registry Organization of Iran, reported that during this period nearly 178,000 marriages involving young girls between the age of 15 and 19 occurred. This means that during the first 9 months of the year, over 36% of marriages involve women under the age of 19. 

A comparison between these statistics and the previous year’s figures shows that the rate of marriages of girls under the age of 15 has increased. The number of 10 to 14 year old girls who got married in 2012 was 29,827, whereas in 2013, in just the first 9 months of the Iranian calendar year 1392 (2013), this number has reached 30,956. 

In addition, it was reported that in 2012, 235 girls under the age of 15 married men over the age of 35. Nearly 100 girls under the age of 15 married men over the age of 40, and 602 girls between the age of 15 and 19 married men over the age of 40.  

According to the International Covenant on Child Rights, to which Iran is a signatory, all individuals under the age of 18 are considered children. The International Covenant also prohibits child marriage. This is while, according the Iranian law, the legal age for marriage for girls is 13 and boys 15, but the law also permits the father or grandfather to allow their child to marry before the age of 13.