President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iranians should have more children, adding he was opposed to the state encouraging families to limit themselves to only two offspring, media reported on Monday.
His comments mark a break with the policies of Iran's last governments, which have encouraged birth control to keep a brake on spiralling population growth that has caused serious youth employment problems.
"I am opposed to this 'two children are enough'. We are a country with many capabilities. Iran has the capability to witness the growth of its children, even reaching (a population of) 120 million people," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying.
Iran's current population is around 70 million, almost three quarters of them aged under 30.
In the aftermath of the Islamic revolution of 1979, Iran's leaders had actively encouraged families to help create a booming Iranian population, spurred on by the human losses of the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war.
However under the presidency of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani from 1989-1997, families were encouraged to limit themselves to two children as Iran found there were not enough jobs in the economy for its growing population.
Government spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham emphasised that Ahmadinejad's comments did not mark a policy decision but added Iran now has the potential to sustain a larger population.
"The capability exists in Iran, which comes from the president's far-seeing vision based on reality," he said.
"This vision offers the hope that Iran can overcome the problems of employment with correct management and with people-government interaction and can do it with a larger population."
"We are not worried that with the current population and even a more expanded one later we would not be able to solve the problems," he said.