Al Arabiya website published a piece on the issue of children being sold in Iran.
“Despite the massive wealth of this country, the Iranian society is suffering from degrading living standards and increasing poverty. Due to the country’s economic problems some Iranian families have resorted to actually selling their most valuable assets, including their own children, in order to make ends meet… the phenomenon of children being sold in Iran is not only happening in major cities such as Tehran; in fact, it has also reached smaller urban areas such as Sari and Amol in the north.
“Over two years ago, the state-run ‘Etemad’ daily published a horrific and painful report on the issue of children being bought and sold in Iran. This daily interviewed a family in east Tehran and showed only a glimpse of their sufferings. The report said the price of a small child is not higher than 4 million rials ($111), while the dealer receives 7 to 8 million rials (around $1,944 to $2,222).
“On the other hand, Mohammad Lotfi, a member of the Society in Defense of Children’s Rights told Deutsche Welle news agency that they have gathered a significant amount of information about children being purchased and sold in Iran, yet there are still no precise statistics about this trade.
Another child rights activist who spoke on conditions of anonymity also said, “I have information that the sale of children in Iran has become very common, while there are no precise figures.”
“Some traders take advantage of these children; and in some cases these innocent children are used to smuggle narcotics. Moreover, some are forced to beg on the streets. During the past few weeks one Iranian media outlet reported an increasing number of newborns being sold near a large Tehran hospital. This report wrote the price of newborns is 1 to 2 million rials ($27 to $57).”
The Iranian people are seeing their wealth being spent on militia groups, death squads and terrorist organizations in the Middle East. These conditions have made life extremely difficult for the Iranian people to the point of that they are all asking, “Is there any hope in sight?”
(Al Arabiya – November 30, 2015)