Smuggling Fuel Pipeline Discovered on Bandar Abbas Shores
The deputy commander of border guard forces in Hormozgan announced the discovery of a smuggling fuel pipeline on the Soro shores in Bandar Abbas. The length of this pipeline, which runs beneath sand and seawater, has been reported to be 4 kilometers.
The deputy commander of border guard forces in Hormozgan reported the discovery of a 4-kilometer fuel smuggling pipeline thanks to the efforts of border guards at the Bandar Abbas naval base and cooperation with local law enforcement officials.
According to ISNA, Abdullah Lashkari announced this news on the morning of Sunday, March 20 (February 20): “This pipeline, which was hidden by smugglers beneath sand and seawater, was discovered during intelligence operations on the Soro shores.”
According to him, fuel smugglers were using this pipeline to transfer fuel from the shore to various vessels.
The deputy commander of border guard forces in Hormozgan stated that the pipeline has now been extracted from beneath the sand and seawater, and the smugglers’ fuel transfer route has been cut off.
Pipeline laying from shore to sea has been identified as one of the tactics used by fuel smugglers in Hormozgan, and according to this report, more than 20 kilometers of pipelines have been discovered in this area over the past year.
These pipelines have mostly been laid in Sirik county, located 175 kilometers east of Hormozgan province.
Smuggling of gasoline, diesel, and other petroleum products in Iran is not new. Iranian officials have repeatedly attributed fuel smuggling to neighboring countries to the price difference between Iranian fuel and that of neighboring countries.
Hamid Reza Dehqan Nia, spokesman for the “Anti-Smuggling Headquarters for Goods and Currency,” said on Sunday, December 26, in an interview with Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, that the volume of total smuggling of petroleum products and derivatives is approximately 9 million liters per day, of which 3 million liters is fuel.
Mojtaba Mahfouzi, representative of Abadan in parliament, simultaneously in the same television program, cited one of the reasons for the “fuel smuggling” phenomenon as the difference in subsidized rates of Iranian petroleum products compared to other Persian Gulf countries.
Referring to the high volume of fuel smuggling in Iran, he stated that such a large volume of fuel smuggling cannot be seen as merely the work of smugglers, but rather there are mafias behind the scenes who ultimately become visible to smugglers.
Many experts believe that a large portion of fuel smuggling in Iran is organized and carried out by government agencies with the intention of circumventing sanctions imposed against Iran.
Source: DW
