An Ever-Growing Phenomenon: Miserable Iranians Travel to Iraq to Sell Their Kidneys

Some miserable Iranians, whose financial conditions have worsened to a very difficult degree, make desperate decisions and sell their organs if they find a way to do so in their country or they are forced to travel to a neighboring country to sell it there for hard currency, Iran International reported on January 14, 2022.

The wave of poverty experienced by Iranian citizens, who suffer from a dire economic situation, although Iran is one of the largest oil and gas producers in the world, has forced the resurgence of the phenomenon of selling one of the body parts, which made it an organized institutional trade in recent years.

Many who wish to sell their organs present their offers by sticking a piece of paper on the streets of the country, on the doors and walls of hospitals, as well as writing information about their age, blood type, the organ they intend to sell, and sometimes they put the asking price.

Rampant Disaster

Iran International revealed in a report on January 14 that “some poor Iranians who want to sell their kidneys are traveling to Iraq, because there are brokers who help them get better prices than they get in their own country and in dollars.”

The website quoted its information on the statement of Dr. Hossein Biglari, head of the support group for kidney patients in Kermanshah, western Iran.

“Some applicants who think that the selling price of kidneys in Iran is low, tell us that they will travel to Iraq to sell them there, as one of their acquaintances or relatives did,” he added.

“The number of transplants has decreased despite the increase in the number of applicants to sell kidneys, but patients cannot buy due to the high price and their deteriorating economic condition,” he also said.

“The regulations issued by the Kidney Patient Support Society prohibit buying an organ from people who do not reside in the same city or transplanting organs to foreign people. Therefore, candidates for a kidney transplant have to forge documents to pretend they live in Tehran or invite the donor to Iraq to receive the amount in dollars and transplant the kidneys there,” Dr. Biglari pointed out.

According to Iran International, “the official selling price of the kidney based on the contract in the support societies for kidney patients is $3000, but this is far from the market price for kidneys which is quite arbitrary and can be as high as $10,000 when agreed between donors and recipients. So, those who want to sell their kidneys go abroad to sell it at a better price.”

Dr. Houshang Rezvanpanah, an official from the kidney patients support association of the northern Gilan province, also said to Iran International: “Because of poverty and financial problems, the number of applicants to sell kidneys has increased recently.”

“Most of the sellers want to use the money to buy a car to work as a driver or put money to rent an apartment, and the higher the price, the better, so that part of the problems of living can be solved with this money,” Rezvanpanah added.

The deteriorating financial situation and the lack of job opportunities in Iran, in addition to the rampant corruption in state institutions, are among the main reasons that push the Iranian citizen to sell an important part of his body, without knowing the extent of the risks that a total loss of two may cause.

According to a study by the Higher Research Institute of Iran, the number of people living below the extreme poverty line in the country doubled between 2017 and 2020.

It is noteworthy that the trade in selling organs was widespread in Iran before the United States imposed economic sanctions on Iran, but the growing popularity of this trade has nothing to do with the sanctions, as it was increasing when the sanctions were lifted.

Observers believe that Iran's problems have worsened since 2018, when US President Donald Trump, at the time, withdrew from a historic nuclear agreement, re-imposed economic sanctions on Tehran, and banned vital oil sales and several banking activities, due to Iranian support for terrorism in Middle east.

Legal Cover

It seems that the process of selling human organs is no longer foreign to Iranian society and does not take place behind the scenes or dark basements, as talk about it continues among the people and in popular gatherings.

Despite its danger to public health, and its negative social repercussions, this phenomenon is not even opposed by the Khamenei regime, which implicitly encourages these practices thanks to the websites, organizations and institutions that operate in this sector.

Iran provides its citizens with a legal way to sell kidneys, and it is the only country in the world to do so, while many countries of the world have passed laws banning the sale of human organs, according to an extensive investigation by the Los Angeles Times newspaper in October 2017.

There is a government institution in Iran called the Charity Association for the Support of Kidney Patients (CASKP), where buyers and sellers register their names, then this association matches them, completes the delivery of funds and performs the surgery.

Opposite the Hasheminejad Kidney Center in Tehran, new ads are posted almost every day, and during the period between 1993 and 2017, doctors in this hospital performed more than 30,000 kidney transplants.

The investigation revealed the creation of platforms on social media, especially through the Telegram application, to announce the sale and purchase of members, in order to make the work more organized.

According to the statements of the Iranian authorities, this kidney transplant system gives the poor a relatively safe way to earn money and save the lives of others at the same time, also contributes to keeping the cost of the surgery low, and reduces waiting times for organ transplants through donation, especially since the percentage of Iranians who donate their organs after their death is very few.

Selling Organs

In September 2019, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) published research on the recovery of human organ trade in Iran, which it considered unprecedented all over the world, due to the collapse of the Iranian economy and the need for people to meet their life requirements.

“The sale of kidneys is the most prevalent, noting that this trade began more than 10 years ago, but it is no longer limited to the sale of kidneys, in recent years, the list has included the sale of organs such as the liver, lung, bone marrow, cornea and blood plasma,” the research explained.

“There is no fixed price for body organs, as prices vary according to several factors, including: The age of the seller, the condition of the patient, how close he is to death, the speed of his need to purchase, as well as the seller's blood type, so prices are higher for blood group O- or B+,” the research indicated.

“In 2018, the kidneys were sold for between $5,000-10,000, while the prices of the liver ranged between $15,000-50,000, the cornea for $20,000, and the bone marrow for $10,000,” the research also stated.

“About 3800 kidney transplants occur in Iran annually, of these, 500 are donated by brain-dead patients, some donate kidneys to relatives in need, while the purchase and sale of kidneys deals in about 3,000 cases,” according to recorded statistics.

The number of people who are going to sell their kidneys is still increasing, despite the occurrence of deaths during some operations.