President Hassan Rouhani has been hailed as a new
moderate voice in the controversial Middle Eastern government but the approval
of the new law shows that the extreme beliefs in the intolerant country have
not evaporated.
The law was approved by the Iranian members of
parliament and maintains that girls can marry with the permission of their
father at the age of 13 and young boys at the age of 15.
The timing of the law being passed through the
first legal hurdle, as reported by The Guardian, comes just days after
Rouhani's landmark phone call with President Obama- the first between the two
countries leaders in 34 years- and an interview with CNN where he admitted the
existence of the Holocaust- something that has long been denied by the
religious extremists in Iran.
The law in question pertains to the legal
marriage age, but the concern about incest is an additional factor for human
rights advocates.
