Police in Tehran say three people have been arrested for attempting to sell newborn babies via the social-media site Instagram.
Tehran police chief Hossein Rahimi said on June 23 that a 20-day-old and a 2-month-old baby were found with the three individuals, who claimed that they had taken them from poor families for a “small fee.”
Police said the infants have been placed in the care of a state welfare organization and that their parents had been identified.
Rahimi said police in recent days had received several complaints from citizens calling for action against those involved in the online trade of babies.
Earlier this year, police said members of a gang that sold babies in the northeastern province of Gorgan had been arrested.
Four women and a man in that case are accused of identifying poor mothers and paying their hospital expenses, then taking away their babies after they gave birth.