Iran is witnessing a steep rise in child labor, particularly in urban centers like Tehran, as economic hardship intensifies and state protection systems continue to falter. On the World Day Against Child Labor, June 12, we shed light on the tragic situation of child laborers in Iran.

In May 2024, Soudabeh Najafi, a Tehran City Council member and head of its Health Committee, described the presence of children working on the streets as a “serious red flag” being ignored by authorities. In an interview with Shargh Daily on May 14, 2024, Najafi warned that the number of child laborers in Tehran had noticeably increased in recent months and that “children’s presence on the streets is a crisis that must not be normalized.”

Najafi explained that the issue is being addressed in a fragmented manner by multiple institutions—including the Welfare Organization, Tehran Municipality, and the Governor’s Office—without unified oversight. “The main perpetrators of child labor in the city are those who take children from their parents and then deploy them for work under harsh and exploitative conditions,” she said.

The clerical regime avoids giving accurate statistics regarding the number of children involved in child labor. Moreover, occasionally, officials announce false statistics to downplay the gravity of the situation.

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