Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 16
By Fatih Karimov – Trend:
Over 97 percent of the cell phones which are being sold in the Iranian market are smuggled, Farhad Ehteshamzad, head of Iran’s Import Federation, said.
Only 3 percent of the cell phones in Iran’s market are imported legally, Ehteshamzad said, Mehr news agency reported Jan. 16.
The total value of imported cell phones reach $2.5-$3 billion per year which is 1.5 times more than the country’s car imports, he added.
Ehteshamzad further said that the issue of registering mobile phones to curb their smuggling still remains unimplemented despite the taken steps in last months.
Earlier in July 2016 it was announced that the new phones illegally imported to the country will not be registered.
Former official statistics reveal that about 10 million mobile devices are smuggled into Iran every year.