Illegal transplant surgeries are those conducted outside authorized medical and legal frameworks—typically involving the sale or coercive removal of organs, transplant tourism, and trafficking in persons for organ removal.
Organ Transplant in Iran
In Iran, international patients can legally undergo organ transplantation provided they enter on a valid medical visa, seek treatment at one of more than 120 accredited transplant centers, and comply with national regulations that strictly prohibit commercial organ trade. Under Iran’s Human Organ Transplantation Law, foreigners may not receive organs from Iranian living or deceased donors; instead, they must bring a matched living donor of their own nationality, whose identity is verified by both the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Health before any procedure can proceed. Donor and recipient both sign informed‐consent forms, and living donations are reviewed by institutional ethics committees to ensure voluntariness and the absence of payment. Deceased donations require prior donor consent or family authorization after brain death.
Illegal organ transplants in Iran
In Iran, the transplantation of organs that can only be sourced from deceased donors—including heart, lung, pancreas, and cornea—remains impermissible under the Human Organ Transplantation Law because these procedures necessarily require “allografts” taken from corpses, and non-Iranians are categorically barred from receiving organs from any Iranian donor, living or deceased. Since hearts, lungs, and pancreases cannot be donated by living individuals and corneal grafts in the country are similarly drawn from cadaveric tissue, international patients have no legal pathway to procure these vital transplants within Iran’s borders. The prohibition stems from a strict regulatory framework designed to eliminate any form of commercial organ trade or transplant tourism. Foreign recipients must instead bring a matched living donor of their own nationality—verified by both the Ministries of Health and Foreign Affairs—before any transplant can proceed, but this option applies only to organs like kidneys, which can be donated by living volunteers. Because the essential donor pool for heart, lung, pancreas, and cornea transplants in Iran is entirely post-mortem, and because Iranian law forbids the provision of such organs to foreigners, these surgeries cannot lawfully take place for international patients. This legal barrier underscores Iran’s commitment to ethical transplantation practices and reflects the nation’s broader goal of preventing exploitation of vulnerable populations through illicit organ trafficking.
Legal organ transplants in Iran
In Iran, kidney and liver transplants are legally sanctioned because both procedures rely primarily on living donors rather than cadaveric organs, aligning with the country’s Human Organ Transplantation Law. Since 1988, Iran has operated a government-regulated compensation scheme for living kidney donors, allowing unrelated volunteers to donate in exchange for a standardized, nonnegotiable stipend and comprehensive post-donation medical care; this program effectively wiped out the national renal transplant waiting list within just over a decade. Living liver donation—where a healthy individual donates a portion of their liver—has followed a similar regulatory framework, with institutional ethics committees rigorously vetting donor voluntariness, ensuring informed consent, and verifying donor-recipient compatibility. Under Iranian law, foreigners seeking kidney or liver transplants must present a matched living donor of their own nationality; both donor and recipient identities are authenticated by the Ministries of Health and Foreign Affairs, after which the transplant can proceed without additional legal obstacles. All living donations undergo multidisciplinary review to confirm the absence of financial coercion or undue influence, and donors receive life-long follow-up care to monitor for any late-onset complications. In contrast to illicit black-market networks, Iran’s transparent, state-funded approach combines ethical oversight with pragmatic incentives, guaranteeing donor safety and recipient access. As a result, over 3,500 renal transplants are performed annually—nearly all from living donors—and living-donor liver transplants have become increasingly routine in major medical centers across Tehran and Shiraz. This living-donor model not only upholds international ethical standards by eliminating the need for cadaveric grafts, but also stands as a unique, fully legal system that addresses organ shortages while preventing exploitative transplant tourism.
Conclusion
In summary, foreign patients seeking organ transplants in Iran operate within a tightly regulated, ethically focused framework that permits only living‐donor kidney and liver procedures. Under the Human Organ Transplantation Law, non-Iranians must present a matched donor of their own nationality, undergo identity and compatibility verification by the Ministries of Health and Foreign Affairs, and receive institutional ethics committee approval. Cadaveric grafts—hearts, lungs, pancreases, and corneas—remain off-limits to foreigners, reinforcing Iran’s zero-tolerance stance on organ trafficking and commercial exploitation. This dual‐track system—embracing living donations for overseas recipients while reserving post-mortem organs for nationals—ensures donor safety, legal clarity, and transparent access to life-saving transplants, positioning Iran as a distinctive, fully lawful destination for international transplant patients.
Read More