Fuel Smuggling in the borders of Iran

Fuel Smuggling in the borders of Iran

six million liters of diesel and paraffin oil are smuggled from Iran to Pakistan every single day. Unemployment, drought, and the low price of fuel in Iran, as compared to Pakistan, are the main reasons for fuel smuggling.

Why Fuel is smuggled out of IRAN?

Fuel Smuggling in Iran

Fuel Smuggling in Sistan and Baluchestan province is one of the main sources of income for deprived people in this province. The great economic problems in Saravan and the long-standing deprivations of this city force the people of the border to take up fuel jobs, they have no other possibility of employment.

Poverty and class divide in Sistan and Baluchestan province, which is one of the most deprived provinces of Iran, have been going on for years, and it is very unfortunate. The people of this province do not even have the minimum welfare facilities of other provinces of Iran. In addition to the lack of welfare facilities, the people of this province have been being under strict security control for decades because of various reasons, and this situation adds to their deprivation.

Earlier, the government issued a fuel card for border residents and said it intended to monitor it by legalizing fuel extraction. But people say the fuel was in their name and for the benefit of OTHERS!!

Is it the only source of income to continue living?

Fuel Smuggling in Iran

Diesel smuggling is a profession that people in disadvantaged areas, especially in border villages, practice as a child. The children, who are supposed to be very literate, study until the sixth grade, after which they become the apprentice of the driver of the fuel carriers to learn their job well; They work on high-risk roads to make money to continue their life; The same income that Molavi Abdolhamid, the leader of Friday prayers of Zahedan, had emphasized in his statement about the Saravan riots; “Carrying the fuel is not a crime or smuggling. “Some of them are the only people with an income from their families.”

Fuel Smuggling is not their choice!

Baluchzehi is one of these people. He is 30 years old, but since the age of 10, he has been working as a Fuel Carrier to make money for his old father and two younger sisters. He explains that because of the difficulties of life and the lack of facilities, he did not have the opportunity to continue his education: “Each village has a minimum of 20 young people who have to smuggle fuel to make money; In this situation, what else can we do?”

What was the reaction of Pakistan media?

Fuel Smuggling in Iran

According to the Pakistani newspaper “Ummat”: Iranian fuel smuggling to take advantage of the artificial fuel crisis in Pakistan has intensified and smugglers have used new methods to increase smuggling and transfer of illegal fuels. (Iran’s culture)

The newspaper quoted informed sources as saying: “Previously, oil tankers and passenger buses were used to transport Iranian fuel from Baluchestan to Karachi and Jacobabad in Sindh, and the amount had reached 200,000 liters per day, but recently because of more monitoring -Inspection and law enforcement agencies- fuel carriers using passenger cars and special trucks carrying stones.

What did the Iranian Officials say about smuggling!?

Fuel Smuggling in Iran

2019: The head of IRAN Headquarters for Combating Fuel and Commodity Smuggling: “According to estimates, an average of 11 million liters of fuel were smuggled out of the country last year, but this figure will soon decrease!!”
2019: Bijan Zanganeh, Iranian Oil Minister: Fuel smuggling can’t be more than five million liters per day!!” Zanganeh attributed the escalation of fuel smuggling from Iran to other countries is because of exchange rate fluctuations.
2021: Six million liters of diesel and paraffin oil are smuggled from Iran to Pakistan every single day. Unemployment, drought, and the low price of fuel in Iran, as compared to Pakistan, are the main reasons for fuel smuggling.

read full report “all about Iran” here

Meanwhile, the exchange rate had reached about 13,0000 IRR, and with the multiplication of the value of the national currency, fuel smuggling to neighboring countries had increased. While the value of the national currency has fallen even more since 2019, which provides the basis for increased fuel smuggling.

The Critical Questions:

Fuel Smuggling in Iran

Now, with such a price gap between fuel prices inside and outside the country, which is the result of the devaluation of the IRR, how can we expect people not to break the law?

Is military action the only solution that has come to the minds of the country’s officials to prevent fuel smuggling? Are there no solutions to meet the minimum needs of the people of an area so that they do not have to engage in illegal activities?!

**In the next part of this article, we will examine the effects of smuggling on the country’s economy.