Khamenei: The Figures of Smuggled Imports into Iran Are Very Strange

Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, described the figures related to smuggled imports into Iran as "very strange" during a speech. The Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA) reported on Tuesday, February 4, that the Supreme Leader stated in a speech on National Engineer Day: "Today, the pressure of imports is exhausting the country, and the figures regarding the amount of smuggled imports into the country are very strange." He added, "However, this is also not a logical justification that, under the pretext of preventing smuggling and receiving customs profits, the way for mass imports into the country is opened officially." Khamenei referred to what he called "resilient economy" and noted the frequent repetition of this phrase by officials, saying: "Of course, mere verbal repetition will not lead to any changes." The Supreme Leader urged officials to ensure that the "products and productions of talented youth" in Iran are not overwhelmed by imports. Habibollah Haghighi, head of the Central Headquarters for Combating Smuggling of Goods and Currency, announced on January 22 that the value of smuggled goods into Iran in 2013 was between $20 to $25 billion, which is about half of the value of goods that were officially imported into Iran in the previous year. He also stated on January 11 that the volume of smuggled goods in 2013 was $20 billion, which was twice the total development budget of the country. 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 out of government control. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the former president of Iran, stated in July 2011 that some institutions and organizations import goods through illegal ports and borders and 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 but no commercial transactions are conducted there." Alongside goods smuggling, drug trafficking is also a major issue in Iran, to the extent that Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, Iran's Minister of Interior, stated on February 4 that part of the money related to drug trafficking "enters the political arena and is used in the form of election assistance and decision-making processes."