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Tehran, Iran (CNN) – Iranian authorities arrested three men trying to sell babies online, the semi-official news agency reported Thursday. news ISNA.
A 20-day-old and a two-month-old baby were rescued from an online baby sale scheme, the news agency said.
Tehran Police Chief Hossein Rahimi said a third baby was identified but has not yet been found, ISNA reported.
The rescued babies were being sold on the social media platform Instagram, according to the semi-official website KhabarOnline.
One was being sold for 400 million Iranian rials ($ 9,490), and the other for 500 million Iranian riyals ($ 11,800), Rahimi said, according to KhabarOnline.
They were purchased from “poor families,” one for 50 million Iranian rials ($ 1,100) and the second for 100 million Iranian rials ($ 2,300), Rahimi added, according to ISNA.
A spokesperson for Facebook, the owner of Instagram, told CNN that the company was investigating.
“We do not allow content or behavior on Instagram that could lead to human exploitation, which includes the sale of children for illegal adoption. We are aware of reports of this activity and continue to investigate, ”the statement said.
Facebook has a politics on human exploitation that covers harmful activities related to exploitation and human trafficking, and Instagram users are encouraged to report any related content using tools integrated into the application or its form reports.
Iran is among the 21 “Tier Three” countries in the State of State’s Annual Report on Trafficking in Persons U.S, which ranks the nations that comprise the worst perpetrators in human trafficking.
The countries listed at this level “do not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and are making no effort to do so,” according to the report, published last year.
Ramin Mostaghim reported from Tehran and Nada AlTaher contributed in Abu Dhabi. Rob Picheta wrote in London.
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