Millions in rural Iran lack social security: Official

ANKARA

Some three million Iranian families living in rural parts of the country lack access to social security, according to an Iranian government official.

Speaking to the Iranian Student News Agency (ISNA) on Thursday, Mohamed Riza Vaiz Mehdevi, general director of social security for farmers, villagers and nomads, discussed accessibility to social insurance -- or the lack thereof -- among Iran’s vast rural population.

Mehdevi cited a recent survey of six million Iranian households that found that more than three million rural families lacked access to social security.

“By the end of this year, however, a member of each of these families will be incorporated into the [government’s social security] system,” he told ISNA.

The government, he added, was currently working on ways to help rural families benefit from Iran’s national social security program.

According to Mehdevi, two-thirds of farmers’ and villagers’ insurance premiums are paid for by the state, while the last third is paid by the beneficiary.

According to Iran’s official statistics agency, the country’s total population stood at some 80 million last year.