AHWAZ, Khuzestan Province -- Head of the Management and Planning Department of the Khuzestan Province Seyed Mohammad Qasem Husseini urged officials to adopt proper measures to deal with the rampant unemployment problems in the province.

Speaking in a session to discuss the budgetary affairs, Husseini added that effective mechanisms have to be created to deal with the unemployment dilemma, IRNA reported.

He termed the unemployment as a "thorny" problem that necessitate the inter-organizational coordination as well as the public cooperation to be settled.

He said the government is not in a position to solve the dilemma on its own adding that a proper solution can be found through mobilization of all resources.

Evidently, he said, unnecessary administrative paperwork and red tape have to be removed as parts of attempts to provide proper grounds for the job-creation activities.

The increasing population was one of the key factors responsible for the worsening unemployment problem in Iran, he said adding that effective measures have not been adopted to control the increases in the Iranian population.

Press reports said earlier about 3.5 million people of the active population - between 15 to 64 years old - are currently out of job in Iran. At least 5.5 million high-school graduates would join the jobless within the next four years to increase the unemployment rate to 24 percent.

The inactive population comprises 13 million students under 10 years of age, 13 million housewives and 1-3 million retired.

Studies by Iran's Statistics Organization showed that the youth account for 70 percent of the whole population.

Though one out of every 10 jobless Iranians holds a university degree, 29.6 percent are high school graduates, 40.8 percent hold primary and secondary school degrees and 6.9 percent are virtually illiterate.

Macro educational planners have focused most of their energy on expanding the universities' admission rate. The trend has increased the number of degree holders who have high expectations for their careers.

Iran has, with support from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the International Labor Organization (ILO), launched a new job creation initiative to tackle unemployment in the country.