Tehran, Iran, April 3
By Mehdi Sepahvand –- Trend:
Officials of border provinces in Iran tend to slacken the fight on smuggling, regrets spokesman of the Central Anti-Goods Smuggling Headquarters Qassem Khorshidi.
While governor-generals do so for fear that discontent may rise in their provinces, MPs also take things easy because they look for votes, Khorshidi told Fars news agency April 3.
“We have given them written and oral warnings tens of times,” he said, but regretted that the officials sacrifice national interests for local interests.
The remarks come shortly after Ali Masume, legal director of the Central Anti-Smuggling Headquarters, said the Iranian police had launched 500 anti-smuggling stations across the country to fight the smuggling of goods and currencies.
Goods smuggling poses serious obstacles to industrial production in Iran. According to official estimations, about $25 billion worth of goods are annually smuggled into the country, which is equal to Iran’s income from oil exports.