Iran's youngest father

When Behzad married Zeinab, her 17-year-old cousin, he was 12.

When Behzad married Zeinab, her 17-year-old cousin, he was 12. Now they have a son and Behzad, at the age of 13, is Iran's youngest father.

Behzad's mother left her when he was 2, and Behzad grows up with his step-mother and step brother and sisters. Behzad never went to school, is illiterate and suffered a lot during his childhood.

© Nazanin Tabatabaee Yazdi - Image from the Iran's youngest father photography project
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Zeinab can hardly read and write. Sometimes she goes to a school for adults and has learned to read and write a little. When her son is asleep, she studies.

© Nazanin Tabatabaee Yazdi - Image from the Iran's youngest father photography project
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When Behzad married Zeinab, her 17-year-old cousin, he was 12. Now they have a son and Behzad, at the age of 13, is Iran's youngest father. Behzad's mother left her when he was 2, and Behzad grows up with his step-mother and step brother and sisters. Behzad never went to school, is illiterate and suffered a lot during his childhood.

© Nazanin Tabatabaee Yazdi - Behzad and Zeinab are sitting in their house in a cold winter night. Sometimes Behzad keeps thinking for a long time.
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Behzad and Zeinab are sitting in their house in a cold winter night. Sometimes Behzad keeps thinking for a long time.

© Nazanin Tabatabaee Yazdi - Image from the Iran's youngest father photography project
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On many days Behzad is not given a job as a labor because of his small body and young age, and he sits down in a ruined courtyard at the back of their house and thinks.

© Nazanin Tabatabaee Yazdi - Image from the Iran's youngest father photography project
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Behzad and Zeinab live together with Zeinab's family in a garage with no heating system. They just have a small oven which they use both for cooking and heating the house.

© Nazanin Tabatabaee Yazdi - Behzad's son frequently becomes ill because of lack of health care and food. Ali Asghar's healthcare costs are very high.
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Behzad's son frequently becomes ill because of lack of health care and food. Ali Asghar's healthcare costs are very high.

© Nazanin Tabatabaee Yazdi - Behzad and Zeinab are standing near their house.
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Behzad and Zeinab are standing near their house.

© Nazanin Tabatabaee Yazdi - Sometimes Behzad gives neighbors a hand in construction projects for a small wage.
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Sometimes Behzad gives neighbors a hand in construction projects for a small wage.

© Nazanin Tabatabaee Yazdi - Behzad is 13 and has a 1-month-old son. Now he is Iran's youngest father.
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Behzad is 13 and has a 1-month-old son. Now he is Iran's youngest father.

© Nazanin Tabatabaee Yazdi - Image from the Iran's youngest father photography project
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Early in the morning Behzad goes to the town's main square, and sits beside workers, who are older than him, waiting for somebody to hire him as a labor.

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