For 40 years Iran has performed more gender transition surgeries than many other nations, largely a result of pressuring gay and gender-nonconforming citizens to undergo unwanted operations or risk the death penalty. Now, faced with an economy crippled by war and sanctions, the Islamic republic is promoting its expertise to a global audience, hoping to attract transgender foreigners with the promise of inexpensive surgeries packaged with luxury hotel stays and sightseeing tours. Desperate for foreign investment, Iran’s theocratic government has set a goal of generating more than $7 billion from medical tourism annually, according to Iranian state news media, about seven times as much as it earned last year. That objective has resulted in the proliferation of medical tourism companies, marketing not just nose jobs and hair transplants, but vaginoplasties, mastectomies and penis constructions through glossy English-language websites.

So in a country where gender affirming care is nigh-impossible, and repression of trans people is third-reich levels, an article goes out condemning Iran for allowing high-quality gender transition surgeries more than many other nations .

The reporting

In Iran, gay men and lesbians can be punished by public flogging and the death penalty. As a result, the United Nations Human Rights Council found, many gay and lesbian Iranians who are not trans are “pressured into undergoing gender reassignment surgery without their free consent.”

The evidence

The Committee is also concerned about reports of gay and lesbian Iranians being pressured into undergoing gender reassignment surgery without their free consent

There is no further inclusion of these reports (or I’m reading the UN document wrong). Please help me understand if this is bullshit or there’s some factuality behind this claim. This kind of reporting also does an amazing job at sparking strife between trans / gay and lesbian individuals I feel.