The Iranian Students News Agency reported that he said, “Currently, some of the academic centers in European countries have come to the conclusion that, for the further advancement of university students, girls and boys must be separated from one another.” The ayatollah did not reveal what European universities had concluded that. On the broader question of gender relations, Makarem-Shirazi was quoted as saying, “If we see that the statistics of divorce, crime and assault are increasing, it is because of improper hejab, co-education, the dissemination of pornographic CDs and the relationships of husband and wives with other people.”