Eshtari: A Major Portion of Smuggling is Organized

The commander of the Islamic Republic's police force announced on Tuesday that a "major portion" of smuggling goods into Iran and their exit from the country is "organized." According to ISNA news agency, Hossein Eshtari stated on Tuesday, 20 Ordibehesht, "Unfortunately, in our view, a major portion of smuggling goods into the country and their exit is organized, and we hope to achieve good results through cooperation with other responsible agencies in this area." Eshtari mentioned that one of the most important topics at the police commanders' conference on Sunday and Monday was the issue of smuggling goods. Meanwhile, Ali Larijani, the head of Iran's parliament, noted during a gathering of police commanders on Tuesday that the smuggling of goods worth $20 billion into Iran "harms production because, despite the presence of smuggled goods, factories are not established, and production does not take shape." The police commander's remarks about the "organized" nature of smuggling into Iran come at a time when some officials of the Islamic Republic have implicitly accused the Revolutionary Guards of being involved in smuggling. For instance, Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, stated on Tuesday, 20 Bahman 94, without naming names, that "a corrupt entity that... can bring in smuggled goods does not allow the country to grow." In recent years, several Iranian executive officials have criticized organized smuggling in the country and have spoken about ports and entry points for goods that are beyond government control. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the former President of Iran, stated in Tir 1390 that several institutions and organizations import goods through illegal ports and borders and that they must be stopped. Just one day after Ahmadinejad's criticism of some institutions regarding "illegal imports" from certain border points and unauthorized ports, the commander of the Revolutionary Guards emphasized that the institution under his command "like other military institutions, has military ports at its disposal, but no commercial transactions are conducted there." Mehdi Karroubi, the head of the sixth parliament, also first reported in 81 about the existence of 33 unauthorized ports under the control of military and police institutions, which became known in Iranian economic and political discourse as "invisible ports." Habibollah Haghighi, the head of the Anti-Smuggling Headquarters, announced that the annual volume of smuggling goods into Iran is estimated at $20 to $25 billion, which, according to this official, is twice the total development budget of Iran. Meanwhile, Qasem Khorshidi, one of the officials of the Anti-Smuggling Headquarters, reported on Tuesday that in 1392, smuggling reached $25 billion, which dropped to less than $20 billion in 1393 and less than $16 billion in 1394. This annual volume of smuggling is about half the value of Iran's official imports in 1394. According to the Iranian Customs report, the country's imports in 1394 were over $41 billion, a 22% decrease compared to the previous year.