Ozempic hype grips affluent Iranians as others chase essential medication

Ozempic and other weight-loss injections have become the latest luxury craze among affluent Iranians, as the nation struggles with a chronic shortage and soaring cost of essential medications.

Anti-obesity drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro are not approved by Iran’s health regulators but that does not seem to bother those who seek and afford this newfound status symbol.

“Have a quick scroll through Instagram and you’ll see scores of Ozempic posts,” says Fatemeh, a psychotherapist in Tehran over a call on an encrypted messaging app. “You may see the medical pen flaunted alongside a Givenchy or a Louis Vuitton.”

For many, Ozempic is as much about status as it is about fitness, she says, adding that it’s not all too rare to happen upon someone live streaming their injection of Mounjaro to showcase their apparent weight-loss journeys.

The longing for a slimmer physique is nothing new. But the anti-obesity injections, often called a Fitness Wand, are also highly coveted in Iran not in spite of but because of their high cost.

On Instagram and Telegram, platforms with the most users in Iran, instructional videos are mushrooming on Ozempic and other weight-loss medications, with more physicians and clinics offering tips on how to use those, how to get the best results, and of course, how to tell apart the original and the fake ones.

“For many of our clients, these weight-loss pens are seen as tools to regain self-confidence,” says Maryam Majd, a 42-year-old fitness trainer at a high-end gym in Tehran’s affluent Zaferaniyeh district.

“Our gym staff is trained to assist with using these products, and we’ve even set up a dedicated room next to the solarium for this purpose,” she adds.

The urge to follow western trends may be explained, partly at least, by Iran’s official isolation from the world. But there’s little doubt that Iranians tend to be trigger happy when it comes to invasive methods of uplifting their appearance.

Take the wave of rhinoplasty (or nose jobs) that came to Iran’s shores a couple of decades ago and has left very few nostrils intact. Then it was liposuction, then Botox.

Every time it starts with the well-off and spreads to others, first as a luxury then a necessity, an obsession almost, which compels people with not enough disposable income to cut their expenses elsewhere, give up their basic needs even, to afford it.

Ozempic and other pens appear to be following a similar trajectory.

All this comes as many Iranians have to visit multiple pharmacies and queue up for hours to get life-saving medication for their loved ones.

Iran’s ongoing economic troubles—driven by sanctions, corruption and government mismanagement—has led to chronic shortages of essential drugs. Three in ten Iranians are now unable to afford their medication due to the soaring prices.

It does not help that some black market dealers, drawn by the substantial profit margins, have shifted their focus from rare disease medications to high-demand weight-loss drugs.

As the global trend of weight-loss medications continues to gain traction, Ozempic and similar drugs have become yet another example of Iran’s widening gap—between those constantly chasing the latest status symbol and those struggling to meet their basic needs.