Iran contained fuel smuggling by over 20 percent in one year: Official
Iranian authorities say they have managed to contain the amount of fuel smuggled out of the country by over 20 percent in one year.
Head of Iran’s main anti-trafficking body said on Wednesday that the volume of diesel and gasoline smuggled out of Iran was 8.5 million liters a day in early 2019, down from 11 million liters a day a year earlier.
Ali Moayyedi said marine forces operated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) have been helping the government contain the illicit fuel trade at southern waterways.
Iran consumes more than 150 million liters of gasoline and diesel each day, mostly for transportation. Devaluation in the country's rial, which came as a result of US sanctions on the country last year, has helped a lucrative smuggling business across the borders and at sea, with reports suggesting that even children have been spotted carrying Iranian fuel in drink bottles across the mountainous regions in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Moayyedi said despite massive efforts to counter the illegal trade, the cheap prices of fuel in Iran would still encourage traffickers to siphon it out of the country.
“As long as the difference in price in and out of borders is not brought to normal levels, the possibility for smuggling would exist,” he said, adding that a full control on fuel trafficking would only be possible if some special “systems” are set up.
Gasoline is currently pumped into cars in Iran at a price of $0.07 while diesel is sold at even a lower price of $0.025. The government has announced it would reduce its subsidy on the two fuels mainly to curb the illicit trade across the borders.
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