Shariatmadari: $250 Billion in Goods Ordered in the Last Four Months

The Iranian Minister of Industry, Mine, and Trade states that the "profit-seeking" of certain individuals from currency fluctuations has reached a point where the demand for order registration has increased three and a half times in the last four months, totaling "$250 billion." Mohammad Shariatmadari told ISNA that this figure is "unimaginable" and that currently, aside from "external factors," some "opportunists" are trying to "fish in troubled waters for themselves." He noted that, for example, the demand for order registration has increased 3.5 times compared to the same period last year, and if all these orders were to be imported, it would reach $250 billion, which is hard to comprehend. The Minister attributed this level of order registration to a "sense of access to a rent and considerable profit in some" which has led to this "unconventional demand." To prevent such phenomena, Shariatmadari called for the examination of the "eligibility of applicants" and their "background" in addition to government management. His remarks come at a time when police and judiciary officials have repeatedly reported the arrest of currency disruptors and importers who misused government-provided currency. The head of the Basij Organization claimed that Basij forces have identified several warehouses of "hoarded cars, rice, and construction materials" and have arrested some key figures involved in hoarding. Gholamhossein Ghaibparvar stated, "A program to identify hoarders and those who stockpile has been communicated to all resistance units [of Basij], and these units across the country have been tasked with this matter." The Minister of Industry, Mine, and Trade also criticized the allocation of the 4200 tomans currency to all registrants, stating that prior to the implementation of the new currency package, which provided a single currency rate of 4200 tomans, "profit-seeking occurred. Some of those who imported goods with the 4200 tomans currency did not sell them at that rate in the market." In recent months, reports of "violations" in the import of mobile phones, cars, and other goods imported with government currency have been published. The head of the Iranian Inspection Organization claimed in late June that the car ordering website was hacked and "about five thousand high-end and expensive cars were illegally imported into the country, of which about four thousand have been cleared and entered the market." The first deputy of the judiciary also announced in early August the formation of cases against 40 companies and summoned the CEO of the Social Security Investment Company in connection with "violations" in the import of mobile phones with government currency. The extent of misuse of government currency reached a point where the Tehran prosecutor warned importing companies on August 8 that if they sell their goods at free market rates despite receiving the 4200 tomans currency from the government, they would face prison sentences of five to twenty years or even execution. Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, the Minister of Communications and Information Technology, also mentioned the mobile phone case, stating that "criminals" have so far been fined "over 43 billion tomans for overpricing."