The way of life of Tehran's street urchins is the untold tragedy facing many families in rural parts of oil-rich Iran who can't afford to support all their children, forcing some to sell them into lives bordering on slavery. These children typically ranging from between four and 13 years old are a common sight on the crowded street of Tehran.
Their youthfulness can be deceiving. The youngsters have been hardened by street life, which leads them to behave aggressively toward people who refuse to buy their merchandise. They will often resort to verbal confrontation or will relentlessly pursue their potential customers.
One eight-year-old boy opened a woman's car door while she was waiting at a red traffic light and implored her to purchase a few pieces of gum. The women shoved the boy aside, closed her door, and the two exchanged crude remarks.
Usually, the result of street living transforms these children into thugs and petty criminals. Children as young as 10 can be seen walking the street of Tehran dealing drugs. Young girls are the most victimized, sometimes ending up as prostitutes.
Exploiting these children are criminals looking to take easy money. For the children working for them, it's a different reality. Their daily routine rarely varies: a minibus drops them off in the city center in the morning and collects them one by one in the evening. The minibus will then take the children to a warehouse where they are crammed into a room.
After buying a sandwich and orange soda from a nearby restaurant for 12-year-old orphan Ali Reza, the young boy spoke openly about the consequences of hiding money from the men who own him.
"We will be beaten and will not get food if we don't give the money over. We can't hide the money either, because they search us from head to toe each night. And even if we wanted to run away there is nowhere to go with the money. I can't run away, I have nowhere to go. I have no home. At least we are fed if we work hard everyday."
Ali Reza comes from a small village in the northern part of Iran. After the death of his mother, Ali Reza's uncle sold him into labor when he was just six years old.
"My uncle had to give me up because he didn't have enough money to support me and his own family. He sat me down and told me I have to take care of myself and life is going to be hard and if I pray to the imams for help they will watch over me and guide me."
Remarkably, Ali Reza dreams of going to school and hopes that one day he will learn how to read. He has never had any form of education and is illiterate.
"I think reading is important and I want be able to read signs and things like that. And bankers have to read and I am pretty sure they have to go to school. So if I go to school, I will become a good banker and a really good banker because I love making money."
There are no reasons to be optimistic that the exploitation of children on the streets of the capital city will decline anytime soon. Although the Iranian government has expressed determination to arrest the ringleaders, they are set free after a short time due to insufficient funds to keep them locked up. Once free again, they go back to what they know best: filling their pockets with money earned by the misery of the innocent children of Tehran.
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Sabina Amidi is a Sarah Lawrence College student who traveled to Iran for her research project.