Iranians resort to selling organs such as livers or testicles as country is crippled by economic crisis - with flyers lining entire street

Iranians have resorted to selling their organs, including their livers and testicles, as the Islamic Republic is crippled by economic crisis triggered by the war with the US.Flyers have been pictured lining entire streets in the capital of Tehran, advertising payments for people's blood and body parts. Some of the posters appear to advertise for certain blood types including A+, A-, O+ and O-, according to Iran International. The outlet cites the pro-worker ILNA agency as reporting that Iranians facing financial crisis – such as mounting debts or rising living costs – are being offered money for their organs so they 'repay debts and keep their homes'. Iranians are being offered cash for their kidneys, liver tissue and bone marrow. One worker has even offered his testicles for sale after getting into financial difficulty. Farhang Hosseini Street, in Tehran, has become known as 'Kidney Street' due to being close to a local medical centre and charity supporting kidney patients. It has been used as a meeting point for people, who are looking to sell their organs, to find buyers. Pictured: Flyers on the streets of Tehran advertising payment for human organs and blood According to the ILNA report cited by Iran International, Iranians can make between 30 billion and 40 billion rials (£11,850 to £15,800) selling their kidneys. However, people with rarer blood types can be paid up to 50 billion rials (£19,755), according to an employee at Sadra Hospital, which is located on Farhang Hosseini Street. One man, a 30-year-old motorcycle delivery driver, said he had rejected an offer of 15 billion rials (£5,920) for a single kidney but had hoped to make 35 billion rials (£13,820) to clear his debts. Another man, a 58-year-old self-employed worker, said he needed between seven and eight billion rials (£2,800 to £3,070).He added that he was willing to sell one of his organs for up to 30 per cent below the standard price to clear his debts. A third man had put his kidney, liver tissue and testicle up for sale. It comes as Iran faces economic turmoil. Families are struggling to afford basic items and roughly eight million people are living in absolute poverty. Ali Babaei Karnami, chairman of the Iranian parliament's social affairs committee, said up to 50 million Iranians are struggling to afford food. Minimum wage workers in Iran only earn between 200 million and 300 million rials (£79 to £118) per month. But it is estimated that a household needs roughly one billion rials (£395) to pay for standard living costs. In 2023, it was reported that poverty-stricken Iranians had turned to selling body organs to overseas buyers.Reports claimed people had sold kidneys, liver, cornea, bone marrow, sperm and ovum to support their families or pay for medical bills, fetching £5,500 to £12,000 per organ.Middlemen inside the million-dollar industry would buy the organs to send on to countries including the UAE, Turkey and Iraq.There is no evidence of action being taken to stop the online black market, usually with buyers procuring organs through coercion or deception.In 2019, Iran's opposition party went on to claim the government had endorsed the practice of people living in poverty selling their organs.Iran Human Rights Monitor – an activist group working in collaboration with opposition group, the National Council of Resistance (NCRI) – reported pre-pandemic that employees of Khomeini Hospital in Karaj were selling their kidneys in order to survive.A member of the city council, Ghadir Mahdavi, said at the time that when he arrived at the health centre he found 'unable to pay the housing rent or their children's university tuition for months, and due to economic pressure caused by months of nonpayment, the staff are selling their kidneys'.It is not strictly illegal in Iran to exchange an organ, such as a kidney, for money. A 2022 report noted the only government intervention so far in Iran's kidney market was setting a minimum price for the whole country.The report notes men are more likely to donate their kidneys in Iran due to traditional 'breadwinner' expectations.