Iran Unveils Matchmaking App To Stem Divorce Rate

Iran unveiled a matchmaking app to promote marriage in the country. The new app introduced on Monday is called Hamdam, which means companion, The Associated Press reported. The app, to facilitate a “sustainable marriage,” was developed by the government-affiliated Tebyan Cultural Institute.

Authorities in Iran reportedly are concerned about the country’s soaring divorce rate. In 2019, there were more than 170,000 divorces and around 520,000 marriages in Iran, according to the report. The birthrate in the country also has fallen, to some 1.2 million births in 2019, down from 1.52 million in 2016.

There are 13 million single adults age 18-35 in Iran, out of a total population of over 80 million, the AP reported.

“With the help of new tools and technologies and the science of modern psychology, we decided to set up Hamdam as a platform to facilitate marriage,” director of the Tebyan Cultural Institute, said at the ceremony, the Fars News Agency reported.

“A healthy family is the driver of society’s progress,” he also said.

The unveiling of the app was set to coincide with the date of the wedding anniversary of Fatimah, the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad, to the his cousin, Ali, according to Fars.