TEHRAN , Iran ( CNN ) -- For years Ahmad has been unable to find true love . So the 27 year-old bachelor who lives in Tehran is turning to a professional matchmaker . Jafar Ardabili 's matchmaking service provides one option for Iranian singles . `` I 'm searching for a love that lasts , '' Ahmad said . What 's unusual is Ahmad 's matchmaker wears a turban , a robe and could be the first-ever Iranian cleric who plays cupid . `` First they say 'wow ' , '' Jafar Ardabili said , `` then they take a closer look and say 'since he 's a cleric we have faith in him . ' '' Ardabili made his first love match 10 years ago while he taught at a Tehran university . One of his students had a crush on a person , so Ardabili arranged for the two to meet . A few months later they married . The set-up worked so well that Ardabili and his wife opened the Amin International Family and Cultural Institute , a service that matched Iranian singles in a supervised setting . In Iran , Islamic law restricts social interaction . `` You ca n't just go after someone in public and say would you like to live with me ? '' Ardabili said . `` Especially the women , who often do n't have any right to choose their companion , but in our institute women do have the right to choose . '' Ahmad would love nothing more than one of those women to choose him . On a Thursday morning he anxiously sat in the institute 's waiting room . Ardabili had arranged for Ahmad to meet a young lady . Could she be the one ? Ahmad had paid a $ 100 fee , submitted a picture and his information . In return he has access to thousands of other applicants . Once applicants approve of one another 's pictures and profiles Ardabili arranges up to two meetings inside his office . After each meeting , the applicants report back to Ardabili . `` When there 's no connection they look like wrinkled potatoes , '' Ardabili said . And when cupid 's arrow hits the mark ? `` They look very eager . They 're as happy as an ice cream cone . '' Watch Ardabili describe how his service works » . The third meeting for couples takes place outside the institute without supervision . If all goes well , Ardabili arranges for the families to meet and then the couple ties the knot . `` You feel good because you 're serving humanity , '' Ardabili said . Ardabili said that during the past 10 years his institute has had more than 50,000 applicants . More than 2,000 of his couples have married without a single divorce , he said . Ardabili gave credit to his 10-member staff that offers counseling to married couples , even sex therapy . `` We want to reduce divorce , give families a strong foundation , '' Ardabili said . On his Web site , Tehran 's matchmaking mullah has posted wedding pictures of some of his success stories . Ahmad ca n't wait to see his picture among them . `` At this very moment I 'm counting down the days . ''
Iranian cleric , wife runs matchmaking service . Service offers option for social interaction between Iranian singles . Comment: