Iranian Official Raises Alarm Over Medicine Smuggling To Afghanistan
An Iranian pharmaceutical industry official has warned that drug smuggling to neighbouring countries, including Afghanistan, is contributing to serious medicine shortages in Iran.
An Iranian pharmaceutical industry official has warned that drug smuggling to neighbouring countries, including Afghanistan, is contributing to serious medicine shortages in Iran.
Mohsen Abdollahzadeh, a board member of Iran’s Association of Pharmaceutical Distributors, said that despite a 50 precent increase in domestic drug production, Iran is facing a severe shortage of medicines. He said smuggling to Iraq and Afghanistan has become so extensive that traders in those countries are unable to import medicines through legal channels.
Abdollahzadeh described the smuggling of medicines from Iran to Afghanistan as alarming and warned: “If this continues in the same way, it could disrupt Iran’s pharmaceutical market.”
His comments come as the Taliban have announced a ban on the import of medicines from Pakistan following military tensions with Islamabad and the closure of border crossings. A Taliban deputy prime minister has warned that within about a month, Pakistan-made medicines will no longer be cleared through customs at Afghanistan’s ports.
Taliban officials have said they are seeking to replace Pakistani medicines with imports from India and Iran. Earlier, Afghanistan’s public health minister travelled to India as part of efforts to diversify medical supply sources.
Meanwhile, Mohammad Hashemi, spokesperson for Iran’s Food and Drug Administration, said he could not rule out the smuggling of medicines to Afghanistan, noting that price differences between Iran and regional markets have created incentives for such violations.
Hashemi warned: “If this situation continues, we will face temporary shortages of medicines in Iran, and this will put additional pressure on the supply chain.”
However, he rejected claims of “widespread” drug smuggling from Iran to Afghanistan, saying available evidence points to limited cases rather than large-scale trafficking.
The Food and Drug Administration spokesperson also announced an agreement with Taliban authorities to expand official pharmaceutical exports to Afghanistan. He said the aim is to meet Afghanistan’s medical needs through transparent and legal channels while preventing illegal imports and smuggling.
