VZCZCXRO4667
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK
DE RUEHDIR #0009/01 0641425
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 041425Z MAR 08
FM IRAN RPO DUBAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0229
INFO RUCNIRA/IRAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHDIR/IRAN RPO DUBAI PRIORITY 0222
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEHDE/AMCONSUL DUBAI PRIORITY 0203
RUEHAD/USDAO ABU DHABI TC
RUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI PRIORITY 0171
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 IRAN RPO DUBAI 000009 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  3/4/2018 
TAGS: TBIO SOCI ECON IR
SUBJECT: OPEN KIDNEY SALES IN IRAN 
 
RPO DUBAI 00000009  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Jillian Burns, Director, Iran Regional Presence 
Office, Department of State. 
REASON: 1.4 (d) 
 
1.(C) Summary:  According to two Iranian doctors, kidney sales 
in the Islamic Republic of Iran are legal and regulated; others 
maintain sales of kidneys are not technically legal but widely 
tolerated.  The practice is overseen by two NGOs, a foundation 
for kidney patients and a foundation for special diseases.  The 
kidney providers and recipients connect either through these 
NGOs or link up personally through newspaper or posted-street 
advertisements, where the provider and recipient reach a deal 
and then consult a transplant center.  Kidneys typically sell 
for 2-5 million tomans, approximately $2-5000.  According to the 
doctors, there is no excessive health risk to the donors -- as 
long as nothing goes wrong with their remaining kidney.  End 
summary. 
 
NGOs and transplant centers facilitate kidney sales and 
transplants 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
--------- 
 
2.(C) Based on conversations with two Iranian doctors, an 
anesthesiologist and a forensic pathologist, kidney sales in 
Iran are legal and regulated.  The practice is overseen by two 
NGOs, a foundation for kidney patients and a foundation for 
special diseases.  According to these doctors, there is no 
excessive health risk to the donors -- as long as nothing goes 
wrong with their remaining kidney.  Other doctors have said they 
did not believe the practice of selling kidneys was technically 
legal but that the practice was widespread. 
 
3.(C) The anesthesiologist described the process in Iran of 
selling kidneys as uncomplicated:  some donors and recipients 
contact the regulating centers that locate a match, organize 
compatibility tests, and arrange for the operation.  Recipients 
often offer donors money after the transplant.  Others seeking 
to sell their kidneys place an ad in a newspaper or other site 
explaining their physical condition such as sex, age, blood 
type, health, and lifestyle, providing a telephone number for 
potential buyers.  If a deal is reached, the two parties consult 
a transplant center where they get evaluated, followed by the 
surgery.  Both doctors claimed that the current rate for a 
kidney varies between 2-5 million tomans, or approximately 
$2-5000. 
 
4.(C) According to the forensic doctor, transplant doctors in 
major centers in large cities like Tehran, Esfahan, and Shiraz 
perform the surgery.  He also said that each center has its own 
criteria and regulations for accepting transplant candidates; 
the center in Shiraz only accepts kidney transplants between 
relatives, but some other centers accept non-related donors and 
recipients. 
 
5.(C) The doctors had no information on underground trade of 
kidneys outside Iran.  According to a BBC article from October 
31 2006, every year 1400 Iranians sell their kidneys on the 
international black market for organs, and medical agencies 
facilitate the trade. 
 
Desperate kidney traders 
 
------------------------ 
 
6.(C) The two doctors acknowledged that financial pressure 
motivate most of the kidney sellers.  The transplant doctor 
discussed the bitter realities behind most of these 
transactions, claiming that many of the sellers are young drug 
addicts with no hope for the future and others are just 
desperately poor.  He said he had recently heard a rumored story 
of a man who sold a kidney to raise money for his daughter's 
dowry. 
 
Religious concerns 
 
------------------ 
 
7.(C) The forensic pathologist explained that the most common 
and successful organ transplants in Iran are that of corneas. 
He said Imam Khomeini approved cornea transplantation and 
preservation of corneas from human cadavers for use in Iran. 
The Imam's fatwa also allowed organ donation after death for 
humanitarian reasons, presumably both for scientific research 
and transplant. He said that despite Khomeini's fatwa,  there is 
 
RPO DUBAI 00000009  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
a cultural objection to organ donation after death, mainly for 
fear of disrespect to the body as well as morality concerns that 
bodies would be exposed to the opposite sex. The doctor, who 
described himself as a religious man, said he does not know of 
anything in the Koran that bans transplant of organs.  He said 
Islam requires one to save one's body from harm, which could be 
an argument against organ donation during life.  (Note: Neither 
doctor questioned the practice of selling organs or addressed 
the religious view of selling organs.  Endnote) 
 
8.(C) On a related note, the forensic scientist  wished that 
religious leaders would give a fatwa to reassure people 
regarding biopsies, as he faces similar morality concerns in his 
field of work.  He called Khomeini progressive for endorsing the 
medical use of autopsies and organs for medical studies that 
would help human beings.  He wished this would go a step farther 
to encourage organ donations, negating the taboo of autopsies; 
however, he said, the current leader is no Khomeini and would 
never do such a thing.  He said currently Iranian medical school 
import bodies of non-Iranian and non-Moslems, mainly from India, 
for medical schools.  He said some judges are currently claiming 
that the body of each Moslem is the property of their families 
or the property of their town mayor. 
BURNS