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 Iran Acknowledges Prostitution

TEHRAN, IRAN – THE ASSOCIATED PRESS JULY 6,2000

In a report Wednesday that exposes Iran's hidden social vices for the first time, an official acknowledged that prostitution and drug abuse were widespread among Iran's predominantly young population.

``Five tons of narcotics are consumed in Tehran every day. Official reports suggest that there are at least 2 million addicts. Some 100,000 addicts are in prison. Addiction to narcotics has even reached school classes,'' Mohammad Ali Zam, a Tehran official in charge of cultural affairs, said in a report published in Wednesday's newspapers.

Shattering a taboo by admitting the existence of prostitution, the report said that the average age of prostitutes in Iran had dropped to 20 from 27 a few years ago. The report did not give an estimate for the number prostitutes.

Zam, who read his report to city council officials Monday, said that 90 percent of girls who run away from home fall into prostitution, and warned that violence and theft among teen-agers was on the rise.

For years, the hard-line clergy that has ruled Iran since the 1979 revolution has painted a rosy picture of Iranian society, never admitting to vices such as prostitution, which officially is punishable by death.

Prostitutes are becoming more and more visible on the streets due to economic hardships and new social freedoms granted since the 1997 election of the moderate President Mohammad Khatami. The Tehran municipality is dominated by Khatami's pro-reform allies.

Economic hardship is the main problem confronting most Iranians. More than half of the 62 million Iranians are below 19, meaning that every year hundreds of thousands want jobs that don't exist.

The daily Hamshahri quoted Zam as saying that at least 12 million Iranians were living below the poverty line, and 20 percent of the population controlled 80 percent of the nation's wealth _ damning statistics for a ruling clergy that overthrew the monarchy and came to power in a revolution that promised greater equality and a more equitable distribution of wealth.

Islam and religious education has been forced on all Iranian students, but Zam said there was increasing indifference to spirituality and moral issues among the youth.