Goods worth $14 billion smuggled into Iran annually
By Aynur Jafarova
Each year, goods worth $14 billion are smuggled into Iran, the Mehr News Agency quoted Iranian Deputy Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade Mohammad Sadeq Mofatteh as saying.
About 80-90 percent of health and beauty products are brought to the country illegally, Mofateh said.
He went on to say that Iran is also one of the world's biggest markets for cigarettes smugglers.
Due to international sanctions Iran's legal imports faced a 26 percent decrease in the first quarter of Iranian calendar year (which started on March 21) compared to the same period of last year.
"Smuggling has resulted in tax revenue losses equal to 18 trillion rials," Mofateh said.
Earlier Mofatteh said that smuggling in Iran ruins 200,000 job
opportunities annually.
More than 10 trillion rials worth of smuggled goods were seized in
Iran in the past Iranian calendar year which ended on March 20.
Around 80,000 cases of smuggling were registered at customs
nationwide.
Experts believe that as the US and European Union tighten sanctions on Iran, smuggling of fuel and goods has emerged, bolstered by a sharp drop in the value of the Iranian currency.
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