Tehran, 26 Jan. (AKI) - The increasing number of women in Iranian universities is worrying Iran's authorities and parliament is discussing a draft law to limit access to female students. Today, 65 percent of university students in Iran are women. The MPs with the ultra conservative Osulgarayan (loyal to principles) political faction of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejadhas announced it will soon present the bill to "rebalance the university's population," claiming that the large number of women attending secondary education is undermining Iranian society.

Osulgarayan MPs in fact claim that the rise of women graduates has contributed to raise the number of divorces in Iran.

"Once they get a degree, many young women refuse to stay home and take care of their husband and children and want to work, which is mainly why so many marriages end," said this week Rad Ali Tahmasebi, one of the lawmakers who drafted the bill.

Tahmasebi also blamed the increase in the average marrying age of women on university attendance, noting that this too was a "threat for an Islamic society such as Iran's."

In the previous reformist legislature prior to the election in June 2005 of Ahmadinejad, a similar proposal by conservative MPs had been blocked by the then majority coalition.