It’s not a good season for marriage. There should be about 1.65 marriages being registered each year in Iran, appropriate to the number of eligible people. But it’s about half that. Since celibacy has never been much of an option in Iranian culture – nearly everyone marries – this must mean there are lots of people who want to marry, but can’t afford to. And that’s not surprising since property values in Tehran and other cities have doubled in the last couple of years. This means two middle class young adults earning a reasonable monthly salary can not contemplate buying their own home. Those who do wed often end up having to live with their parents, not the perfect recipe for harmony, and with the latest report from the country’s Information and Statistics Centre saying divorce is set to hit every one out of eight marriages, it wouldn’t be surprising if again the estate agent is being blamed. But property is the number two enemy. The number one enemy of marriage in Iran, and most of the world, is infidelity, which for most Iranian women includes their husband having a ‘temporary’ marriage. Pray for Imaginative resolution to housing crisis for couples wanting to marry Church to reach out more to keep couples together Churches to preach with passion for purity in sexual relationships