Goods Smuggling Amounts to $17-18b Annually: Official

Goods smuggled in and out of Iran annually amount to $17-18 billion, according to the head of the Headquarters to Combat Smuggling of Goods and Foreign Currencies.
“Outgoing contraband accounts for more than $5.5 billion of the total sum. The figure increased after the reimposition of economic sanctions in the fiscal 2018-19. After the government started subsidizing foreign currencies [for the import of essential goods], smuggling to the neighboring countries increased significantly,” Ali Moayyedi Khorramabadi was also quoted as saying by Fars News Agency.
While successive Iranian governments have subsidized food imports, cheap foreign currency was first given after the steep rise in forex rates in the spring of 2018 soon after the United States abandoned the Iran nuclear deal and imposed tough economic sanctions.