Washington (SmartAboutHealth) - Iran has revealed that there are over 18,000 citizens registered as being infected with HIV. The announcement was made on the 20th anniversary of World AIDS Day.

Iran is not known as a country to disclose a great deal of information such as this, but did so this week.

The head of the Health Ministry’s AIDS Department for Iran announced the number of people infected this week.

He stated that there are over 18,000 citizens of Iran registered as HIV positive.

The official number was said to be 18,320 registered citizens in Iran.

Illegal sexual relations such as homosexual activities, prostitution, etc. were said to be the biggest causes.

Iran has more than 70 million citizens, with the majority under the age of 25.