Rise in Livestock Smuggling Into Iraqi Kurdistan

The smuggling of livestock from West Azarbaijan cities of Oshnavieh and Piranshahr to Sulaymaniyah in Iraqi Kurdistan is on the rise, says Ali Asghar Maleki, the head of Lamb Producers’ Union. 
"At present, a kilogram of live sheep is priced at 400,000 rials [$1.82] in Tehran compared with 900,000 rials [$4.1] in Iraq, which price gap motivates traders to earn more by transferring live animals to the neighboring country despite the risks involved," Tasnim News Agency quoted him as saying. 
Noting that Oshnavieh and Piranshahr are only a short distance away from Sulaymaniyah, Maleki said smuggling of domestic livestock out of the western borders of the country to Iraq would definitely lead to the shortage of supply and increase the prices of livestock and red meat in the coming months.