Deutsche Welle, 24 Nov. 2016- There is much to buy on the streets of Tehran. Iran’s capital offers alcohol, drugs, sex, healthy kidneys and even infants.
In October, Habibollah Massoudi Farid, vice chair of the state welfare organization, confirmed what had been the focus of internet sites and respected newspapers for months: Parents selling their children.

A drug addicted mother with her baby in Tehran 

Baby market near hospitals
The drug-addicted and homeless as well as prostitutes are known to sell their babies near Tehran’s hospitals shortly after giving birth to them, said Fatemeh Daneshwar of the city council in September. Bands of beggars and drug dealers buy the children for between 25 and 50 dollars.
“The babies are often HIV positive, or themselves addicted. Unfortunately, many don’t live very long,” Daneshwar said.
She has called on city residents to inform the authorities when they see beggars with small children, rather than give them money. A young mother and Tehran resident, Bahareh, cannot understand that. “Every day I see dozens of women begging on the street with poorly clothed children or babies. Are the authorities blind that we have to call them?” she told DW. “They are everywhere.”
 

A homeless family in the Iranian capital

Drug dealing: A thriving business
Countless job seekers come to Tehran, home to about 14 million people, from poorer parts of the country. Many are quickly disappointed.
 
Women are especially affected. Some parts of the country see unemployment among women as high as 70 percent. The jobless in Tehran often turn to begging, prostitution or drug dealing.
Drugs are a booming business, despite the threat of death, if caught and convicted. One hundred people start using drugs every day and 70 percent of them become addicted, according to an official government report. Three million of the country’s nearly 80 million people are estimated to suffer from drug addiction. Nine percent of those are women.
 

Street kids in Tehran

“Not every mother or family who sells her baby or child is drug addicted,” said Mahoud Lotfi of the Tehran NGO, “For Children’s Rights.” “Many families suffer from extreme poverty. They are desperate. They sell their children in the hope they will find a better future. The children often end up with beggars. Or they become street workers.”