For our piece over on Kayhan Life this week, we have chosen to write about a phenomenon which has received virtually no coverage from media outlets around the world. To address this, we are sharing the story on this site as we feel the development is very important.

President of Children of Imprisoned Parents International (COIPI), Hamed Farmand said his organisation had received reports of toddlers living inside Iran’s prisons being used by drug dealers to coerce their mothers into buying and taking narcotics. Female prisoners make up the majority of offenders with addictions in Iran’s jails, making them lucrative targets for drug dealers serving their own sentences.

Some inmates are also torturing toddlers and babies in a bid to force mothers into buying drugs. The state of Iran’s prisons have come under fire from Iran’s ministers, international charities and the UK Home Office.

You can read the article here.

A mother with her child in a prison cell in Iran.