Iran loses some $2 billion each year due to smuggling, mainly through activities by influential groups and individuals inside state organizations, MP Kazem Jalali said.
"Much of the smuggling is carried out by individuals and gangs, which are influential in various state organizations," he said, according to the official Iranian news agency,(IRNA).
He said that the problem was on the brink of turning into a national crisis, and seriously threatening Iran.
"There are many factors playing a role in its expansion," Jalali said, without further elaboration.
He cited the presence of "some 2.5 million Afghan" refugees in the country as the cause of "a great deal of economic, social and political damage" to Iran, saying they were taking some $4 billion in hard currency out of the country each year.
Jalali said that the Iranian government was also paying billion dollars to Afghans in various state subsidies each year, while they were exempt from paying taxes to the Iranian government.
Besides that, he said, Iran must pay billions more for its campaign against drug trafficking, which originates from neighboring Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Most of the illegal drug shipments are aimed for markets in the Arabian Gulf states, Europe and beyond – Albawaba.com
