A recently leaked document from Pakistani intelligence agencies reveals that Iranian oil smuggling amounts to over $ 1 billion per year, which is around 14% of the country’s annual demand.
Despite facing strict Western sanctions, Iran has managed to sell $35 billion worth of oil in the black market.
According to media reports, Iran recorded its highest-ever profits last year through black marketing.
Similarly, Pakistan is also under the scanner of financial watchdogs such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), jeopardising critical financial assistance and its reputation in the global community.
The 44-page report, titled "Smuggling of Iranian Oil," emerged through local media after being leaked and sheds light on covert commerce that has thrived over the previous decade.
Following US-led restrictions on Iranian oil exports, Tehran sought alternate markets, resulting in increased cross-border oil commerce with Pakistan.
Last year, an estimated $1.02 billion of Iranian petrol and diesel entered Pakistan across the 900-kilometre-long Iran-Pakistan border.
This illegal activity not only accounted for a significant portion of Pakistan's oil consumption but also resulted in substantial financial losses of approximately $820 million.
Baluchistan, the area most impacted by smuggling, is already dealing with a deadly separatist rebellion and tremendous poverty.
Baluchistan remains one of the most insurgency-affected provinces of Pakistan; this booming informal economy poses a threat not only to Pakistan but to neighbouring countries as well.
The funds accumulated through the black market trade often end up in the hands of terrorist organisations.
Similar cases have already happened in North Africa and several Middle Eastern countries like Libya, Syria, Sudan, Niger, Somalia, Yemen, and Iraq.
These nations have plunged into poverty, destroyed by the terrorist organisations controlling the critical infrastructure and natural resources.
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