Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered officials to clamp down “decisively and ruthlessly” on luxury goods imported into the country illegally.
“Luxury goods that have been smuggled in must be thrown into compactors and crushers,” Khamenei said on his official Twitter account.
Khamenei added that the presence of the items in Iran, driven by strict U.S. trade sanctions that prevent imports of many popular foreign brands, harms domestic industry.
The statement came hours after Khamenei held a meeting with Iranian manufacturers in which he urged government officials to better support producers, and criticized previous administrations for lackluster economic performances.
World powers are currently locked in intense negotiations to revive the 2015 nuclear deal that brought sanctions relief to the Islamic Republic in exchange for caps on its atomic activities. Iran started to heavily restrict imports in 2018 after the U.S. abandoned the landmark accord, triggering an economic crisis.
