Gholamreza Miri, the vice chairman of Iran’s National Saffron Council has regretted that as much as 10 tons of saffron is smuggled from the country each month.
Speaking to ISNA news agency on Saturday, Miri said that Iran cannot directly export its saffron to countries such as the US and Saudi Arabia due to the sanctions and the Iranian saffron is therefore re-exported from Afghanistan, the UAE and Spain.
For exports to China and India, the Iranian exporters have to pay 38 and 14 percent duties which increase the final price, leading the buyers to buy from Afghan merchants or smugglers, he said.
Iran used to export some 325 tons of saffron to 47 countries annually four years ago, he said, adding that although the country is currently exporting the precious spice to 67 countries, the annual exports have reduced to 200 tons.
Noting that the global demand has not dropped, he concluded that part of the needs of the global market is met by smugglers.