The Headquarters to Combat Smuggling of Goods and Foreign Currency, affiliated with Iran Customs Administration, is making efforts to reduce tariffs on imported mobile phones. Habibollah Haqiqi, the headquarters' deputy director, added that since Iran does not manufacture mobile phones and assembles foreign mobile phones in Arvand Free Zone, only smugglers will profit from the status quo, ISNA reported. "As a counter measure, the headquarters is trying to reduce the import tariffs from 7% to 5% to lower the price of officially imported mobiles," he said. Iran suffers from porous borders with regional neighbors, especially Iraq, from where electronic products and household appliances are smuggled into the country. The difference in price between legally imported and smuggled phones can be as much as 30%, according to local eCommerce websites.
