Hassan Rouhani, the president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, claimed that the low price of goods is one of the reasons for smuggling.

During his meeting with Hormozgan province officials, Rouhani said: “When gas oil is 300 tomans and the gasoline is 1000 tomans, and their prices are much higher in other countries, of course, they are going to be smuggled.”

Rouhani said the amount of subsidies paid in different fields in the country are over 900 thousand billion tomans, and added: “This means we are paying subsidies over twice our country’s yearly budget.”

His comments can be interpreted as a defense of raising the prices of gasoline and gas oil which have been mentioned recently by the officials.

The government says with the revenue from increasing the price of oil it can develop and expand public transportation, but the opposition emphasized the inflation that it will cause.

The amount of smuggled fuel in Iran is not clear. A government news agency has reported it between 20 to 40 million liters a day. The center for fighting against smuggling has reported it at 11 million liters a day.

Rouhani also claimed the reason for the high price of meat is a few “middlemen” and the high price of the animals and said: “We must stop the smuggling of sheep herds and gasoline and gas oil.”

During Rouhani’s trip, the Friday Prayer Imam of Bandar Abbas criticized the high price of meat and said: “Red meat over 100 thousand tomans must be a dream, not a reality.” He continued: “Today people do not have food, and their financial problems turn into unhappiness with the regime.”