Iran Government Launches Matchmaking Website to Spur Marriage

Iran Government Launches Matchmaking Website to Spur Marriage

Concerned about the growing amount of single people in the country, the Iranian government recently rolled out a website designed to help find marriage matches for the millions of singles in the country.

Iran estimates that there are 11 million unwed people in the country, which has about 80 million citizens. This is of concern to Iran’s leaders, as under the Islamic Republic’s constitution, which governs Iran, the government is obligated to encourage marriage and the formation of new families, in addition to protecting existing ones.

The matchmaking site, Hamsan.Tebyan.net, or “Find Your Equal,” is a little different than popular U.S. dating app, Tinder. For starters, Hamsan.Tebyan.net merely provides a platform for singles to post their profiles and specify what they are looking for in a potential spouse. On the website, users cannot upload photos, nor can they scroll through or swipe past other users. It’s then up to a board of mediators, who use software and their own judgment, to match applicants after reviewing their age, education, wealth and family background.

“We face a family crisis in Iran and we are sensitive about this,” Mahmoud Golzari, Iran’s Deputy Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, said at a ceremony to mark the website’s launch. “There are many people who are single, and when that happens it means no families and no children.”

For users who are matched, the government mandates premarital training and counseling, which they say will equip young Iranians with the skills necessary to make a marriage work.

The irony in Iran’s launch of the matching site is that it comes after years of successful government policies aimed at curbing population growth. Now, leaders have begun encouraging young people to marry and have more children, fearing that its aging population could one day overwhelm its social programs.

The matchmaking site comes about a year after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued a fatwa (or decree) demanding more marriages and offspring as a way to strengthen the country’s national identity and protect against “undesirable aspects of Western lifestyles.”

To spur population growth, Iran has stopped providing free contraception and funding vasectomies, while state-sanctioned sermons have encouraged larger families. What’s more, the government is considering funding low-interest loans for new couples and providing cash payments to new parents.

Such financial perks may help the government’s efforts, as Iran is also dealing with a high rate of young-adult unemployment, which has caused many young Iranians to postpone marriage.

Iran says the site led to 100 marriages during year-long trial period.