🔶 World Population Day; Why Did the Population Increase Policy in Iran Fail?

🔻 A note by Amir Sultan Zadeh

July 11, World Population Day, this year is not just a calendar occasion for Iran. As this day arrives, Iranian society is simultaneously looking back on the political legacy of Ali Khamenei and facing one of the most important failed projects of his era: the population increase policy. From the first years of his leadership until the final years of his rule, Khamenei repeatedly emphasized the necessity of increasing childbearing and even referred to Iran as a country that could reach a population far greater than its current situation. However, the gap between this government demand and the social reality of Iran is now more evident than at any time before.

From the early years of his leadership, Ali Khamenei had a positive view of increasing the population. In later years—especially from the early 1390s—he raised this position more explicitly and even spoke about a population target of 150 million people.

Khamenei, on 6 Aban 1392, said: “I still believe that our country is not a seventy-five million country; our country is a one hundred and fifty million country; now we at least took it and said 150 million; it can be said more, too.”

Within this framework, childbearing was defined not only as a personal choice, but also as part of a social and national duty. He repeatedly emphasized that, in terms of geography, resources, and human capacity, Iran has the ability to be governed by a much larger population.