Activists Hail Senate Move To Advance Iran Sanctions Bill

Being a young donor is regarded as an advantage, young sellers referring in the advertisements to their age and athleticism as their strong points, the Tejarat News website reported.

Most of the advertisements in the organ market are for kidneys, each kidney priced in Iran’s organ market between 3 to 6 billion rials ($5,000 to $10,000).

In June 2023, Hossein Biglari, Chairman of the Kidney Charity Foundation in Iran’s Kermanshah province, said kidneys are sold in the province at 2 to 2.5 billion rials each, the prices higher in larger cities. Most donors need the money to rent a house or buy a car to earn a living, he said.

Widespread poverty and rising inflation have fueled the trend in recent years, many Iranians using it as a way to pay medical bills and support their families amid dire living conditions. 

A comparison of kidney prices over the past 10 months indicate that Iran’s deep economic crisis and the sharp decline in the value of the national currency have had a significant impact on the organ donation market as well, increasing both the number of needy donors and the prices of the organs.

The rial has fallen sharply since early January, losing around 20 percent in less than three months, further raising the specter of higher inflation in the coming months. The rial reached its lowest historical value during the past week, as each US dollar traded at 610,000 rials in open markets, 43% more than in March 2023.

According to the Iranian government’s regulations, kidney donors receive 800 million rials (around $1,300) as a “reward.” Nonetheless, there is always a series of “agreements” between donors and recipients outside the official mechanisms, which provide donors with extra financial benefits.

The Tejarat investigation revealed a boy as young as 16 who they named only as 'Hamid' was selling his kidney "a little cheaper" due to urgent financial problems. He told Tejarat that he completed the required medical tests and obtained his parents’ consent to donate.

Saeed, 20, said he wants to sell his kidney for 3.6 billion rials ($6,000) so that he can raise enough money to rent a house, while two 19-year-old boys and a 22-year-old girl were among the many others who admitted having openly advertised for the sale of their kidneys in public places as well as on the internet, streets near hospitals and clinics awash with advertisements for buying and selling kidneys.

In May 2023, Jahan-e-Sanat daily reported a sharp increase in the sale of Iranian organs in neighboring countries as a result of extreme poverty. According to the newspaper, the “brokers” send the donors, often aged between 18 and 40, to Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey, to sell their organs for $7,000 to $15,000.

As poverty has become more widespread in Iran over the past two years, advertisements to sell and donate other body organs than kidney such as liver, eye cornea, bone marrow, sperms and eggs are also prevalent.

Eqtesad 24 news website reported in February that almost one in every three Iranians is currently living below the poverty line as a result of soaring inflation in the past five years.

An analysis of posts on Persian social media indicate that Iranians voice deep concern on a daily basis on social media about inflation and rising rents. The common thread among these posts is the citizens’ inability to pay rents, particularly in the capital city, Tehran.

On March 19, the Iranian government set the monthly minimum wage at approximately 110 million rials (about 175 USD). The decision garnered harsh criticisms on the side of tens of millions of Iranians, particularly workers, who must struggle to subsist at a minimal level and make ends meet.

Federal Judge Cynthia Bashant ruled on Tuesday that the bank did not violate US civil rights law by freezing and closing the accounts of Abdollah-Nia, a postdoctoral fellow in San Diego with permanent-resident status, nor the accounts of thousands of others.

Bank of America defended its actions by arguing that Nia failed to provide sufficient documentation to prove residency outside of Iran, a necessary step to comply with complex US sanctions regulations.

It argued that the US Treasury is “very unforgiving of banks whose deficient sanctions compliance programs lead to violations.”

Judge Cynthia Bashant rejected class-action status for the suit, stating that the bank acted within its rights in freezing and subsequently closing Nia’s account in 2019.

The lawsuit, which sought class-action status, alleged that Bank of America had unfairly restricted or closed the accounts of up to 15,000 Iranian Americans.

Furthermore, the judge ruled that Bank of America did not violate California laws, although she permitted Nia to pursue a claim under the US Equal Credit Opportunity Act regarding notification of the account closure.

While denying Nia’s motion to certify the case as a class action on discrimination grounds, Judge Bashant provided him with the opportunity to refile within 30 days if he chooses to pursue the matter solely on the grounds of ECOA notification.

Both the attorney representing Nia and a spokesman for Bank of America declined to comment on the ruling.

Ahmad Shirani, the head of the Traffic Information and Control Center of the Traffic Police, disclosed to state news on Friday that the death toll from accidents during this year's Norouz festivities has risen to 585 so far, stemming from 484 separate incidents. 

Last year, the holiday period saw 1,168 fatalities, up from 1,146 in 2022, with one person dying in a road accident every half hour during the year in Iran according to local media.

“Provinces such as Kerman, Fars, Sistan and Baluchestan, Isfahan (Esfahan), Khorasan Razavi, and Khuzestan have been identified as hotspots for fatal road accidents,” he said.

Teymoor Hosseini, the head of the Traffic Police, revealed that fines will see a fivefold increase on average, with the highest hike reserved for driving under the influence, skyrocketing by sevenfold.

Law enforcement authorities, including Siavash Mohebbi, the deputy head of the Traffic Police, have pointed fingers at drivers with vehicle confiscations on the rise.

The blame game extends beyond drivers, with Iranian authorities consistently attributing accidents to factors such as inability to control vehicles, and driver fatigue. Reports have also surfaced regarding the substandard quality of Iranian-made vehicles and poor road conditions.

However, critics argue that the government's focus on penalizing drivers overlooks systemic issues such as the lack of measures to enhance the quality of car production and address the country's dangerous roads.

The incident in Gonbad-e Kavus, was reported by the IRGC-affiliated Fars News. Citing Islamic principles, the Iranian regime has systematically oppressed and discriminated against queer people since the establishment of the clerical dictatorship.

Iranian authorities have resorted to derogatory labels and stigmatization when addressing LGBTQ citizens, referring to them as “deviant” and “sick.”

In July, Iran’s president Ebrahim Raisi called homosexuality the “dirtiest” phenomena in human history.

“Western countries try to identify homosexuality as an index of civilization, while this is one of the dirtiest things which have been done in human history,” said Raisi, also a Shiite cleric.

Hengaw Organization for Human Rights reported in 2022 that the Islamic Republic sentenced two LGBTQ activists to death on charges of “corruption on earth through the promotion of homosexuality.”

Despite the many challenges faced by LGBTQ individuals in Iran, they continue to confront dangers, including the risk of execution and other forms of punishment under the laws of the Islamic Republic.

On International Women’s Day in 2023, the Iranian Queer Liberation Front vowed to continue the fight against sexual and gender apartheid in Iran.

The bipartisan Mahsa Amini Human rights and Security Accountability Act (MAHSA Act) passed the House of Representatives with overwhelming majority in September 2023, but has not yet been moved forward for a vote in the Senate.

In December, Iranian-American activists said the Chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) was refusing to advance the motion. According to the Committee's website, the markup session will be held on Tuesday, April 16.

The MAHSA Act – which has 68 Republican and 60 Democrat cosponsors – and is supported by the National Union for Democracy in Iran (NUFDI), United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), was first introduced by Representatives Jim Banks (R-IN) and Eric Swalwell (D-CA) during the 117th Congress in January 2023, about four months into pro-democracy and anti-regime protests following the death of 22-year-old Iranian-Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini at the hands of Iran's hijab police. Her death sparked country-wide protests, better known as the Women Life Freedom movement, which challenged the regime and its religious authority like never before.

Essentially similar and a companion to the one passed in the House committee, the MAHSA Act will potentially commit the administration to report to Congress in 90 days after the date of the enactment and periodically thereafter, making determinations about whether certain existing sanctions apply to specified persons and impose the applicable sanctions.

The bipartisan bicameral move requires the executive branch to impose applicable sanctions on Ali Khamenei, his office and his appointees, along with President Ebrahim Raisi and his cabinet officials, as well as foundations and other entities affiliated with the Supreme Leader.