The body of a British national who died in Iran last month after traveling to the country to undergo cosmetic surgery was repatriated on Tuesday, The New Arab has learned.
Louise Smith, a 37-year-old hairstylist from Coventry, passed away in Iran on 28 July. She travelled there from Dubai, where she had resided since 2019, to undergo cosmetic surgery which triggered complications, according to media reports.
Her family is believed to have struggled to have her body bought back to the UK, launching a crowdfunding campaign that raised £14,000 as of Tuesday.
But in a statement to The New Arab, the British Embassy in Tehran confirmed that Smith's remains had been repatriated back to the UK on Tuesday night, arriving early on Wednesday.
The embassy said it had provided "necessary consular assistance to Ms Smith" and that the repatriation arrangement was made with her brother.
It is unclear which procedure Smith underwent in Iran, which is a global epicentre for cut-price cosmetic surgery, nor how it led to her death.
In 2019, 150,000 nose jobs were carried out in Iran, compared to just 2,000 in the UK.
The New Arab’s calls to the coroner’s office at Coventry City Council went unanswered by the time of publication.