Iran's population drive worries women's rights, health advocates

By Michelle Moghtader DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran's supreme leader has called for a population increase, in an edict likely to restrict access to contraception that critics fear could damage women's rights and public health. In his 14-point decree, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said increasing Iran's 76 million-strong population would "strengthen national identity" and counter "undesirable aspects of Western lifestyles". "Given the importance of population size in sovereign might and economic progress ... firm, quick and efficient steps must be taken to offset the steep fall in birth rate of recent years," he wrote in the edict published on his website. At current fertility rates, Iran's median age is expected to increase from 28 in 2013 to 40 by 2030, according to U.N. data.

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