In one year, 320,000 cosmetic surgeries have been performed in Iran.
Bita Ghaffari wrote in an article in the Financial Times that Iran has long been known as a hub for cosmetic surgeries, with tens of thousands of people annually seeking to achieve an ideal appearance through surgery. However, the significant increase in the number of these surgeries in recent years has raised concerns among doctors about their impact on patients’ health and even Iranian identity.
Babak Nikoumaram, the president of the Iranian Society of Plastic and Aesthetic Surgeons, stated that the authentic Iranian face is being distorted through widespread surgeries. He added that incongruous Western beauty standards have been imposed on Iranians.
According to statistics from the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, Iran ranked twelfth in the world for the number of surgeries performed in 2022, whereas it was eighteenth in 2016.
Statistics from the Iranian Society of Plastic and Aesthetic Surgeons show that hundreds of thousands of Iranians follow the virtual pages of beauty bloggers, and around 6,000 accounts on Instagram and other social networks are engaged in promoting plastic surgery services.
Alireza Mosbahi, a plastic surgeon and the secretary of the Iranian Rhinoplasty Society, said that many patients who are misled by deceptive advertisements and photoshopped images published on social media are high school students.
The rapid growth of the cosmetic surgery industry, unchecked advertising, and the increasing number of individuals performing such surgeries without the necessary expertise have caused concern among experienced plastic surgeons. According to officials from the Iranian Society of Plastic and Aesthetic Surgeons, about 430 licensed plastic surgeons operate in Iran, but it is estimated that 2,000 doctors are performing these surgeries on patients.