Storefronts around Tehran’s Grand Bazaar still sell herbal extracts and cheap vitamins, but behind them a quieter trade thrives: fast-acting sedatives that can leave people conscious yet defenseless and often unable to remember what happened.
Rape drugs are widely available in the market according to research by Iran International into online and plain view sales in the Islamic theocracy, where lack of official enforcement or public awareness campaigns mean the sordid practice continues with few impediments.
To understand how easy it is to obtain these substances, a trusted contact walked the central strip of Naser Khosrow Street posing as someone searching for a strong sedative, then asking for what dealers in Iran call “anesthesia drugs,” a euphemism for rape drugs. The response was immediate.
“This one is good for deep sleep,” a vendor said. “Put this pill in a drink. No taste. They won’t wake up properly for hours.”
A second seller offered a small container of clear liquid. “Three drops are enough for most people. They wake up confused. They don’t remember anything.”
None of the conversations involved hesitation, code words or even whispers. The men spoke as if selling ordinary medication.
Different forms of the same threat
A toxicologist who reviewed Iran International's findings, and requested anonymity for security reasons, said the substances on offer resemble well-known families of predator drugs.
The tablets likely mimic flunitrazepam – better known as Rohypnol or “roofies.”
“These drugs act on the same neural pathways,” she said. “They suppress reflexes and cause memory fragmentation. A person may appear awake and compliant but will have no reliable recollection later.”
They are often mixed with alcoholic drinks, which “makes them significantly more dangerous and, in some cases, life-threatening," she added.
One type, according to her, is Gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB), which is a central nervous system depressant with no smell and a faintly salty taste that’s easily disguised in drinks.
While the street trade is bold, online trade is nimble. Photos of blister packs and drops are displayed in social media adverts. Cryptocurrency is often encouraged as the preferred payment method.
A small container of liquid now costs less than a two-person meal at a restaurant.
Public outrage
Recent Iranian media reports of rape drugs circulating in the country triggered a wave of shock and anger on social media. “Nothing coming out of this Islamic Republic surprises me anymore. What you see is exactly what it produces,” one user wrote on X.
Another warned that even social gatherings feel unsafe now, saying, “When you have to watch your glass every second, maybe nowhere is truly secure.”
A third user put it more bluntly: “Predators don’t hide anymore. These drugs make it easier for them to act in the open.”
Some pointed to cases they believed had already happened. “I know people who woke up with no memory after just one drink,” one user wrote.
Another expressed disgust at the sellers. “How twisted do you have to be to sell something like this? It makes me sick."
A safety gap that leaves youth vulnerable
In Europe and North America, awareness campaigns around date-rape drugs are widely promoted.
Some consumer-grade wristbands can detect drugs by changing color when a drop of spiked liquid is applied – one example of the tools young people use to monitor their safety.
But Iran has no comparable infrastructure. No broad educational outreach. No drink-testing tools. No consistent data collection. As a result, self-protection has become the only available shield.
Experts say young people – especially women – should avoid leaving drinks unattended, bring sealed beverages to gatherings and steer clear of parties where they do not know every guest.
The prevention habits are taught widely in the West: always keep your drink with you, use bottles with caps, never accept open drinks, stay with trusted friends, stay alert to unusual tastes or smells and discard anything suspicious.
A market thriving in silence
Back on Naser Khosrow Street, the sellers continue their work unbothered.
The flow of pills and drops moves through daylight crowds as if it were just another line of commerce. For now, predator drugs remain a growing trade in Iran – not because they are hidden, but because no one is stopping them.
The dealers show no sign of caution. Transactions happen in daylight, in the open, with the rhythm of routine business.
Their confidence reflects a reality many in Tehran quietly acknowledge: this market does not survive by hiding in shadows – it survives because no authority is actively interrupting it.
Tehran’s main dams have fallen to volumes that must be preserved for safety and contingency, said Rama Habibi, deputy head of the city’s regional water authority, on Saturday.
“I cannot say Tehran’s dams have reached dead storage, but they are almost at a level below which the remaining volume is considered strategic and must stay in place,” Habibi said.
While none of the capital’s dams has been taken offline, he said some have dropped so low that water can no longer be pumped out efficiently.
Tehran is now in its sixth straight year of drought. Official data show the capital’s Latian dam at its lowest point in six decades, while the Karaj dam holds less than one-tenth of its capacity. As a result, about 70 percent of Tehran’s water is now pumped from underground sources that are under severe strain and at risk of subsidence.
Pressure management and looming restrictions
Pressure management remains one of the ministry’s key tools to delay wider shortages, said Isa Bozorgzadeh, spokesman for Iran’s water sector. Pressure reductions, he added, are imposed from midnight until early morning when consumption is lower, with milder reductions continuing during the day.
Bozorgzadeh warned that if households fail to meet the ministry’s request for a 10-percent cut in use, pressure limits may be expanded to other hours.
Nationwide drought deepens
Only 3.5 millimeters of rainfall were recorded nationwide over the past 50 days, amounting to just 18 percent of normal levels, Mohammad Javanbakht, head of Iran’s water resources management company said.
20 provinces, according to him, saw no rainfall at all and last year marked Iran’s fifth consecutive dry year. “Tehran and Bandar Abbas experienced the lowest water levels in their operational history last year,” Javanbakht said.
Rainfall, he noted, has fallen roughly 40 percent below long-term averages, leaving the country’s dams with their lowest combined storage in more than a decade.
Mashhad and Kerman reach breaking point
The religious city of Mashhad has entered full rationing, Nasrollah Pejmanfar, a lawmaker, said on Friday.
The city’s Dousti dam, he added, “has no water left to transfer, and the reservoirs supplying Mashhad have reached zero,” attributing the crisis to inadequate watershed management.
In Kerman, south of Iran, field accounts describe collapsing aquifers, abandoned orchards and shrinking wildlife habitats. Local pumping systems are deteriorating, while flood irrigation and unsuited crop patterns continue to drain groundwater.
Water specialists warn that unchecked extraction, losses in distribution networks, rapid urban expansion and limited adoption of modern conservation technologies could make reliable supply unattainable for 30 to 50 percent of Tehran’s population within five to ten years.
They caution that without effective winter precipitation, Iran may face broader rationing and possible localized evacuations in the months ahead.
Amir Hayat-Moghaddam, a member of parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, told Rokna news agency that the option is “on the table” and under expert review. “Several meetings have been held since the IAEA Board of Governors adopted its anti-Iran resolution,” he said. “Withdrawal from the NPT is one of the preliminary options, but no final decision has been made. The review of all dimensions and possible consequences is still underway.”
He said a final decision could be announced by Tuesday, adding that any such move would be coordinated between parliament and the Supreme National Security Council. “There is no structural conflict between these institutions. Issues related to national interests are decided jointly,” he said. “Legally, however, withdrawal from international treaties falls within parliament’s authority.”
Separately, the spokesman for the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee said on Saturday that Iran’s parliament has begun drafting a bill on countermeasures in response to the recent International Atomic Energy Agency resolution.
Ebrahim Rezaei said the proposal aims to boost “nuclear and sanctions-related deterrence” and strengthen Iran’s defensive and legal capabilities. “A six-article draft has been prepared covering nuclear and sanctions counteractions as well as strategic, defense and judicial measures,” he told reporters.
Backdrop of renewed nuclear tensions
The discussions come days after the IAEA’s 35-member Board of Governors adopted a resolution urging Iran to provide full access to its nuclear sites and enriched uranium stockpiles. The measure, submitted by the United States, Britain, France and Germany, passed with 19 votes in favor, three against and 12 abstentions.
Iran condemned the vote as “illegal and unjustified” and said it has nullified the inspection accord reached in Cairo in September with IAEA chief Rafael Grossi and Egyptian mediation. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the resolution “killed” the Cairo accord and reflected a pattern of Western escalation.
“The US and the E3 attacked diplomacy just as they attacked our nuclear facilities,” Araghchi wrote on X on Thursday. “Iran is not the party seeking another crisis.”
Tehran says its cooperation with the agency remains within the framework of the NPT but insists that access to bombed facilities cannot resume until safety and legal questions are resolved.
Iran’s long-held position on the NPT
Iran has been a party to the NPT since 1970 and has repeatedly said it does not seek nuclear weapons. Officials in Tehran have described NPT membership as a sign of Iran’s commitment to peaceful nuclear energy, but they have also warned that continued political pressure could force a policy review.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said on Friday that Western powers were “misusing an international body” and that their actions “undermine the credibility and independence of the Agency.”
In Vienna, Russia’s envoy Mikhail Ulyanov said the situation had reached a “complete deadlock,” blaming the Western sponsors of the resolution for “stalling diplomacy.”
“Officials in Iran said Farzad Khoshboresh’s health deteriorated in detention and that he died after being transferred to a hospital,” the department wrote Saturday on its Persian-language page on X.
“But the bruises and signs of torture on his body tell a different story, one that Iranians know all too well: the story of someone who dared to speak out and paid a heavy price,” it added.
Judiciary outlet confirms death
Mizan, the news agency of Iran’s judiciary, confirmed Khoshboresh’s death on Wednesday and said he had been taken to a hospital with signs of illness, released on bail the same day, and died two days later from illness.
His death, the State Department said, fits into what it called a “violent pattern” by the Islamic Republic to silence dissent and spread fear. “Even in the face of such repression, the brave people of Iran continue to demand justice, dignity, and freedom,” the department wrote.
The Hengaw rights group reported Tuesday that witnesses saw bruising on Khoshboresh’s body. Mizan did not mention any injuries.
Local sources said Khoshboresh was detained for a second time by the intelligence ministry on November 12. They said he suddenly suffered acute pain and vomiting in custody after consuming cake and water at the Behshahr detention center, lost consciousness, and was taken to hospital.
He was kept shackled to a bed and died 24 hours after receiving antibiotics, following a rejected request for transfer to another medical facility, according to the sources. Medical equipment, they added, was removed without informing his family and that his body was taken to a morgue.
Khoshborash was buried Thursday under heavy security in a village near Neka in northern Mazandaran province.
A recurring pattern
His death follows a long list of political detainees who have died in Iranian custody over the years.
Many detainees held on non-political charges have also died after beatings in police detention centers.
Iran’s constitution prohibits torture under Article 38, although the country has not joined the UN Convention Against Torture.
