Iran’s current ban on the import of home appliances has turned into a driver of increased smuggling, supported by various state institutions and major domestic manufacturers. The ban was implemented under the directive of the Iranian regime’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei, allegedly to support domestic production.
According to data from Iran’s Headquarters for Combating Smuggling of Goods and Currency, the volume of home appliance smuggling in 2023 was estimated at around $2 billion. Some reports indicate that at least one-third of home appliances on the Iranian market have been smuggled into the country.
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Experts argue that the import ban has not improved domestic production. Instead, it has created monopolies, reduced product quality, encouraged illegal imports of foreign goods, and led to the resale of these smuggled goods under domestic brand labels.
The high volume of home appliance smuggling, along with evidence implicating some major domestic manufacturers in unofficial imports, suggests that the continued insistence on the import ban serves more to protect the interests of those benefiting from organized smuggling networks than to support national production.
Hossein Samsami, a member of the Economic Committee in Iran’s regime parliament, criticized the high volume of smuggled goods—especially home appliances and consumer goods—on Thursday, May 15. He pointed out a key issue: of the country’s $50 billion in non-oil exports last year, $20 billion was never repatriated.
Samsami questioned the oversight mechanisms at entry points for smuggled goods. He stated that part of the currency used to import smuggled items comes from non-oil export revenues, indicating a hidden and illegal financial structure and official support for the entry of these goods.
Another indicator of the organized nature of the smuggling networks is the large volume of seizures regularly reported by the media. Such large-scale smuggling of home appliances would not be possible without the coordination and involvement of some supervisory, security, and customs authorities. An analysis of these seizures shows that the goods were not brought in through unofficial or mule routes but mainly entered through official customs channels.
Since the beginning of the Iranian new year (March 21), multiple reports have emerged about the discovery of large warehouses full of smuggled home appliances across various cities. For instance, a warehouse containing smuggled goods valued at 1 trillion rials (approximately $120,482) was uncovered in Babol; a similar warehouse was found in Eslamshahr; and 4,000 smuggled home appliance items were confiscated in southern Tehran. These are only part of the officially recorded seizures, while the volume of undetected smuggled goods is likely several times higher.
The link between domestic home appliance production and smuggling
The simultaneous rise in domestic production and the increase of smuggled goods in the market is another indicator of the connection between some domestic manufacturers and smuggling networks.
While the economy is in recession and market demand is reportedly down, an increase in supply likely points to the influx of low-quality foreign products being sold under fake labels. In such conditions, some domestic manufacturers exploit the monopoly created by the import ban by rebranding imported goods and selling them under domestic brand names.
Among them, the Entekhab Industrial Group, one of the largest home appliance manufacturers in the country, has repeatedly been accused of involvement in smuggling over the past years.
In the mid-2010s, the discovery of 52 containers of smuggled refrigerators in Hormozgan customs—registered under the label of refrigerator parts—linked the company’s name to a smuggling case.
In recent years, the discovery of shipments containing hundreds of containers of home appliances—imported under the guise of industrial parts—has raised serious questions about the role of major companies, military-economic institutions, and corrupt financial networks in securing foreign exchange and clearing goods through official customs channels.
The case involving the stockpiling of 426 containers of Bosch-branded home appliances, which were seized in 2020 for falsified customs documents and eventually handed over to the Organization for the Collection and Sale of State-Owned Properties in 2022, is a clear example of officially smuggled goods entering through customs.
Monopoly and the consequences of home appliance smuggling in Iran
The explosion at Rajaei Port once again exposed the structural corruption in Iran’s customs system, as some of the suspicious containers involved were filled with smuggled home appliances.
Small appliance companies have repeatedly stated that monopolies created in favor of large corporations are the primary reason for recession and the shutdown of many production units. According to industry insiders, the import ban has become a tool for rent-seeking, and some influential companies, through smuggling and selling at inflated prices, have effectively eliminated competition.
During the thirteenth government, the policy of bartering goods for oil—especially with China—led to increased entry of home appliances through quasi-governmental companies and affiliated institutions. These entities, benefiting from currency privileges and oversight exemptions, imported goods that now hold a significant share of the market.
In March 2024, Ehsan Fadaei, a home appliance industry expert, stated that 35% of the home appliance market is comprised of smuggled goods. He emphasized that part of these goods entered the country using government-subsidized foreign exchange and were declared under different categories. According to him, items such as fuel and medicine—sold at subsidized prices in Iran—are exported out of the country and replaced by smuggled home appliances.
