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Source says since the Iranian government issued a regulation on car imports in February, 76 percent of car imports to the country have been conducted by unofficial entities.

Speaking on conditions of anonymity, the source said the regulation has obliged car importers to pay three percent of each car’s price to official agencies, IRNA news agency reported June 21.

Reports say that in the Iranian fiscal year 1392 which fell on March 21, 2013 to March 20, 2014, 78,000 cars were imported to the country.

During the President Hassan Rouhani’s administration which started in 2013, the import of luxury cars with engine capacities greater than 2500 cc lowered from 16,000 to 4000 due to new regulations.

This is while one year before that, the importers of luxury cars had made some 14 trillion rials (over $480 million) which made up for 15 percent of the total trade in that class of cars. That money went to a few families who are the big time car importers of Iran.

Some 70 percent of the imported cars come indirectly from South Korea and Japan against the backdrop of international sanctions on Iran which have forced these countries to stop their direct car exports to Iran.

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