Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, has called for a population increase, an edict likely to restrict access to contraception. In an edict on his website, he wrote that increasing the population of 76 million people would “strengthen national identity” and counter “undesirable aspects of Western lifestyles.” Since 1986 the population growth rate has fallen to 1.22 percent from 3.2 percent, according to the C.I.A. World Factbook. Reformist Iranians fear the campaign could undermine the position of women in the country.
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(via NY Times)
