All the girls in Iranian mannequin Azadeh’s household have had nostril surgical procedures, every feeling the stress to adapt with Western magnificence requirements in a rustic the place feminine our bodies are closely policed.
To Ms. Azadeh, smoothing out the bump in what Iranians would name the “Persian nostril” she was born with proved a profitable funding.
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For the reason that 1979 Islamic revolution, Iranian girls have been required to decorate modestly and canopy their hair, and the sweetness trade has turn into nearly solely centred on the face.
Having rhinoplasty — a nostril job — could make a serious distinction, Ms. Azadeh informed AFP.
“After the operation, not solely have I earned myself a modelling job with higher social standing however I am additionally incomes 3 times extra and I am extra revered by purchasers,” she mentioned.
Ms. Azadeh, 29, requested that her surname be withheld as a result of girls fashions can face social stress in Iran.
In response to the U.S.-based Worldwide Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgical procedure (ISAPS), greater than 264,000 beauty operations had been carried out in Iran in 2023, with rhinoplasty being the commonest.
A cultural development
Throughout Tehran and different Iranian cities, brightly colored billboards promote magnificence clinics and beauty procedures, providing guarantees of sculpted noses, flawless pores and skin and excellent enamel.
Many individuals with bandaged noses might be seen on the streets, a testomony to the recognition of rhinoplasty.
“It has turn into extra of a cultural development,” mentioned rhinoplasty surgeon Hamidreza Hosnani who performs as much as 20 operations every week at his well-equipped clinic within the capital.
And that development has developed, changing into increasingly more tied to social identification and standing, particularly as extra girls have defied the strict costume code.
Such defiance turned extra marked following the mass protests sparked by the 2022 loss of life in custody of 22-year-old Iranian Kurd Mahsa Amini.
In Iran, the place the minimal wage is round $100, fundamental rhinoplasty prices as much as $1,000 — considerably cheaper than in different international locations, Ms. Hosnani mentioned.
Tens of millions of Iranians have lengthy struggled with hovering costs and a plunging foreign money, pushed partly by years of worldwide sanctions.
“I even needed to borrow the cash required for the operation from my family and friends, however the cash was nicely spent, and it was fully price it,” Ms. Azadeh mentioned.
Reyhaneh Khoshhali, a 28-year-old surgical assistant, had the operation 4 years in the past, and regrets not having it sooner.
“My nostril actually didn’t look good aesthetically and I needed to be extra lovely,” she mentioned.
“If I might return, I might have had the operation earlier.”
Unauthorised clinics
For years, Iran has hosted extremely superior medical centres, even changing into a vacation spot for foreigners searching for high-quality and reasonably priced beauty surgical procedure.
Nevertheless, the procedures may also include dangers.
The Iranian authorities have repeatedly warned concerning the rising variety of unauthorised clinics performing beauty procedures.
In February, a dozen unlicenced practitioners had been arrested and a number of other working theatres in Tehran’s Apadana Hospital had been closed due to unauthorised beauty procedures, the well being ministry mentioned.
In 2023, three girls died in a single day — November 7 — throughout beauty surgical procedure in three separate incidents in Tehran, media reported on the time.
Ava Goli has but to endure her rhinoplasty operation, and mentioned that discovering a dependable physician concerned some analysis.
“I noticed some individuals whose nostril job didn’t look good… and yeah, it actually made me scared at instances,” the 23-year-old informed AFP.
But the demand for beauty surgical procedure in Iran stays excessive — and the stress to maintain up just isn’t restricted to girls.
Bahador Sayyadi, a 33-year-old accountant, mentioned he needed to borrow cash so he might have a hair transplant.
“My monetary state of affairs is not nice, however due to a mortgage I obtained not too long ago, I will probably be doing the process simply in time earlier than my marriage ceremony,” he mentioned.
“Males also needs to maintain themselves nowadays, similar to girls.”
Revealed – April 09, 2025 12:43 pm IST