Pezeshkian urges unified fuel monitoring to curb smuggling
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said designing and implementing a coherent structure to monitor the fuel supply chain is the most effective way to manage consumption and prevent smuggling.
He made the remarks at a meeting to follow up on the implementation of guidelines to curb fuel smuggling on Monday, according to his official website.
Pezeshkian added that confronting individuals who play a role from within the system in diverting fuel out of the official network “must be a priority.”
At Monday’s meeting, the president reviewed the outcomes of last year’s session of the Headquarters for Combating Smuggling of Goods and Currency, which resulted in a 24‑article directive on preventing and combating fuel smuggling, developed with consideration of existing technological capacities.
Fuel seizures up, consumption falls
According to officials from the anti-smuggling headquarters and relevant ministries attending the meeting, physical seizures of smuggled fuel have risen by 764 million liters since the issuance and implementation of the directive.
Although executive measures for certain provisions of the directive remain underway, the surge in seizures has not only stopped the country’s former 4% annual growth in fuel consumption, but has also pushed overall use down by 4% — bringing national fuel demand back to the levels of two years ago. The achievement has also reduced the country’s need to import diesel this year to zero, the submitted reports said.
“Combating fuel smuggling becomes effective when action is taken against the origin and source of violations,” Pezeshkian said, adding that dealing with those who interfere from within the system in the removal of fuel from the official distribution chain “must be more serious.”