NCRI – The excessive import of goods by the government institutions in Iran has destroyed domestic productions and many workers have lost their job in various sectors. According to economic experts in Iran, the imported goods to an amount of one billion dollar have destroyed more than 100 thousand jobs. The institutionalized smuggling of goods in Iran leads to the closure of factories as well as a rise in the unemployment rate among workers.
Ofogh TV affiliated with the Mullahs’ regime had an interview with some authorities and they each acknowledged to the devastating impact of smuggling. Meanwhile, the Head of Iran’s Central Task Force to Combat the Smuggling of Commodities and Currency also admitted to the increase of smuggling commodities in recent years. Therefore, the smuggled commodities have high figures in foreign trade.
The Vice President of Iran-China Chamber of Commerce admits that smuggling has destroyed domestic production in a way that both producers and consumers have been harmed.
Regarding the cause of the large-scale trafficking, he said:”trafficking is the result of our opaque economy. As long as there is no transparency and competition in our economy, we will have the issues such as smuggling commodities, embezzlement or other economic corruptions.”
Mohammad Hossein Barkhordar was the other participant of this interview. He acknowledged that the agents of the regime are involved in economic corruption, smuggling, and bribery. He also stated that there are some rentiers in this regime that are connected to both sides of left and right. They sometimes receive economic medals as well. That means they are experts and have gripped the leverage of law in their hand while receiving medals for smuggling.
Earlier, the Head of the Food and Drug Administration of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education said that the Customs of Iran is itself the entry path for the contrabands.
The deputy head of the Headquarters for Combating Smuggling Commodities and Foreign Exchange, Zarei also said that 60 percent of docks in the country including of military, police, petroleum, trade and fishing are illegal (Fars News Agency November 23rd 2016).
According to the state-run news agency IRNA, the President of the Iranian regime, Hassan Rouhani on 13th of February 2016 had a conflict with the IRGC and implicitly accused this organ of corruption and smuggling in Iran without naming it. He stated:”when the production is going to increase, a factor of corruption and smuggling does not allow the process in Iran. It actually impedes the improvement and prosperity in the country.”
Rouhani in an implicit remark to IRGC slammed this organization for corruption in the country.
In such circumstances, the commodities are smuggled into the country to an amount of 25 billion dollars annually. It is surprising that some authorities of the Iranian regime have announced that this figure even reaches to 30 billion dollars in a year. More than 90 percent of cell phones are smuggled into the country i.e. 1 million and 300 thousand mobiles.
Nearly all clothes are imported and 500 million square meters of fabrics are smuggled into the country as well. In Health and Beauty section, more than 2 billion and 600 million dollars products are smuggled into the country in which most of them are fake.
The sheer volume of trafficking shows that smuggling has been fully established in government organs and it is controlled by the organs affiliated with IRGC.
