Transit of Goods Down 25%

A total of 7.5 million tons of goods were in transit via Iranian roads and railroads in the last fiscal year (March 2016-17), down 25% compared with the preceding year to reach 7.5 million tons, a deputy minister of roads and urban development said. Mehrdad Taqizadeh also attributed the drop to new anti-smuggling regulations put in place by Iranian authorities, Mehr News Agency reported. According to Qasem Khorshidi, the spokesman of the Headquarters to Combat Smuggling of Goods and Foreign Exchange, the total value of all the goods smuggled into Iran last year had a 50% decrease compared to three years ago.