Iran’s Minister of Health has announced that organ transplants for non-Iranians will be banned by the end of September. He cited the long waiting lists for Iranians seeking organ transplants as the main reason for the new regulation.

The minister announced that in the past 10 years, 608 non-Iranians have undergone organ transplants in Iran, adding that this is only the number of transplants carried out legally.

He said non-Iranians who are currently hospitalized awaiting transplants will have a month to take appropriate steps to avoid being in violation of the new regulation.

The report indicates that prior to this, non-Iranians could not receive organs from Iranian nationals in Iran but they could undergo the procedure if they brought a donor from their own country.

The minister’s recent statement came after the Association for the Protection of Kidney Patients criticized hospitals for processing fake documents so foreign transplant patients can receive transplants from Iranian nationals.

Radio Zamaneh