Ahmadinejad Unveils Plan to Swell Iran Population - NYTimes.com

... inaugurated a new policy on Tuesday to encourage population growth, dismissing decades of internationally acclaimed family planning in Iran as ungodly and a Western import.

Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in 2009. On Tuesday, he unveiled a plan to pay families for every new child.

The new government effort will pay families for every new child and deposit money into the newborns’ bank accounts until they reach 18, Mr. Ahmadinejad said. The program effectively rolled back years of efforts to strengthen the economy by reducing population growth.

Those who raise the idea of family planning “are thinking in the realm of the secular world,” Mr. Ahmadinejad said during a ceremony at which he presented the new policy.

The plan is part of his previously stated desire to increase Iran’s population, estimated at more than 70 million. He has previously said Iran could support as many as 150 million people.

The program is expected to be especially attractive to lower-income people, who formed the backbone of Mr. Ahmadinejad’s support in the presidential elections in 2005 and 2009.