Iran cleric coins Islamic St Val’s Day

This would encourage Iranian youths to celebrate the values of love and family on an Islamic feast day rather than on a western one, the cleric said.

Although young Iranians celebrate Valentine’s Day annually, vice police try to prevent this by closing some of the shops selling related articles.

According to another report, a cleric has also started a website for singles to help them find suitable partners. Hojatoleslam Jafar Ardebili, a marriage counsellor at universities in Tehran, said the Internet was an effective channel for finding a partner.

In Iran, relations between unmarried couples is strictly prohibited and people who breach the moral code are subject to arrests and heavy fines. Young Iranian couples are therefore increasingly resorting to Islamic temporary marriages known as siqehs.

Statistics show that the number of temporary marriages between March and August 2002 increased by 122 per cent while the number of conventional marriages dropped by one per cent and divorce cases increased by 17 per cent. This option allows the couples to live as married couples but the union is not officially registered.