DUSHANBE: It was more than a marriage of convenience last weekend as 100 couples chosen from the poorest families throughout Tajikistan tied the knot in a mass wedding with all expenses paid by Iran, underscoring the Islamic state’s expanding presence in Central Asia.

“I don’t know how many more years I would have had to wait for this happy day” without Iran’s help, said Ibrahim, an unemployed 26-year-old from a mountainous region in eastern Tajikistan, shortly after he was pronounced married to Gulnora, 19, from the same region.

Ibrahim and Gulnora were among the lucky few in this impoverished former Soviet republic whose wedding costs, including gifts, were paid in full by the Iranian charity organization Khomeini to mark the 10th anniversary of its presence in the country.

“We’re not asking for anything in return for our help. We just want these new families to be happy,” said Mehdi Tadoyun, director of the office in Dushanbe of the organization, which spends around two million dollars annually on humanitarian aide projects in the country.

Hundreds of guests invited to Dushanbe’s “Wedding Palace” for the group marriage ceremony applauded as the 200 newlyweds, some of them dressed in the traditional multicoloured silk robe known as an “atlas,” stood on a stage before the crowd as folk music was played.

All the brides and grooms underwent thorough medical examinations prior to the ceremony, said Dilbar Khamidova, a Khomeini physician, adding that this was done on a voluntary basis.

“The newlyweds are in good health and can give birth to healthy children,” she said.

Each of the couples was married according to Islamic tradition prior to civil registration of the weddings.

And each also received around 1,000 dollars worth of wedding presents ranging from household appliances and dishes to rugs and other objects for use in the home, along with a copy of the holy Quran published in Iran.

Ibrahim said the party would continue once he and his bride returned to their village in the Rasht valley, and vowed to become a breadwinner — a difficult task these days in a country of 6.6 million people where two in three live below the poverty line, according to World Bank data. “The main thing now is for me to find work,” he said.

Iran is culturally and linguistically close to Tajikistan, although the two countries do not have a common border. In recent years Iran has stepped up its presence in the Central Asian country that has long been under the sway of Moscow. Russia still has around 5,000 troops deployed at a base in Tajikistan.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, trade between Iran and Tajikistan has risen steadily, with Tajik importers bringing clothes, food products and construction materials into the country from Iran into the country.—AFP