Financial Tribune - A total of $7.5 million worth of pharmaceuticals were exported from Iran during the first half of the current Iranian year (March 21-Sept. 22), a member of the Iranian Pharmaceutical Industries Syndicate said.

Mehrdad Alimian added that the figure could rise to $15 million by the end of the current Iranian year (March 19, 2020).

He noted that in the absence of sanctions, pharmaceutical exports stood at $80 million in the year ending March 2018 and $50 million in the year ending March 2019.

“There’s demand for Iranian drugs in international markets, but unfortunately our products are not being exported to countries like Afghanistan through legal channels. As a result, the government, the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration and producers don’t make any profit on the back of Iranian pharmaceuticals sold in Afghanistan. Here the winners are smugglers," the Persian-language Etemad quoted him as saying.