WANA (Jul 19) – According to an Iranian parliamentarian, reports suggest that military equipment—including drone components and small aircraft—have been smuggled into Iran through informal border portering, known locally as kolbari.

 

Kamran Ghazanfari, a member of the Iranian Parliament’s Internal Affairs and Councils Committee, addressed the growing security concerns around kolbari (manual cross-border transport by impoverished laborers in western Iran) and tah-lenji (small-scale maritime smuggling in the Persian Gulf). He described both as “deeply troubling and increasingly dangerous practices.”

 

“What used to be framed as an economic coping mechanism,” he said, “has now evolved into a serious national security threat. These routes operate without official oversight, allowing virtually any goods—from clothing to combat drones—to enter the country undetected.”

kolbari (manual cross-border transport by impoverished laborers in western Iran) / WANA News Agency

kolbari (manual cross-border transport by impoverished laborers in western Iran) / WANA News Agency

Ghazanfari stressed that certain intelligence sources have confirmed the infiltration of military-grade equipment via these same channels, noting that “this is no longer a matter of petty smuggling, but a full-fledged security breach.”

 

The recent spike in border-related incidents—including the 12-day security flare-up reportedly attributed to Israel’s Mossad, tensions along Iran’s western and southern borders, and the vulnerability of informal trade convoys and aging cargo boats—has highlighted the dual economic and security threats posed by these practices.

 

Iran’s unofficial border trade is estimated to reach $1.2 billion annually. That figure, according to lawmakers, represents lost government revenue—enough to fund a year’s worth of public healthcare for millions of Iranians.

 

Field investigations indicate that smuggled goods—ranging from apparel and household appliances to electronics—are sold at prices up to 40% below the domestic market, contributing directly to the shutdown of 60 textile factories in Arak and Isfahan in just one year (2024–2025).

Transporting small-scale trade goods by traditional vessels (tah-lenji) / WANA News Agency

Transporting small-scale trade goods by traditional vessels (tah-lenji) / WANA News Agency

From Consumer Goods to Weaponry: The Security Fallout

In 2025, government inspectors uncovered military hardware hidden in shipments of household items at a southern Iranian port. These consignments originated from a neighboring country that reportedly accounts for one-third of Iran’s illegal imports.

 

A judiciary official in Hormozgan province revealed that fuel smuggling stockpiles at the coastal port of Kolahi were equivalent to the daily output of a full-scale refinery—underscoring how smuggling networks have effectively created parallel states along Iran’s borders.

 

Kolbari and tah-lenji are not merely symptoms of a distressed economy. They have mutated into economic-security viruses, corroding both state sovereignty and financial stability from within.

 

Tackling this crisis, lawmakers argue, will require dismantling entrenched lobbying networks embedded in ports and customs offices, investing in regional industries such as mining in Sistan and Kurdistan or tourism in Chabahar, and redefining border zones—not as defensive barriers, but as corridors for equitable development.