Gun-Smuggling Ring Busted in North Iran


TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s intelligence forces dismantled a gun-smuggling ring in the northern province of Golestan.

The operation against the biggest gun-smuggling ring in Golestan was carried out after weeks of constant intelligence and security activities, the Intelligence Ministry’s provincial office said.

The security forces confiscated 191 illegal weapons and arrested four people in the operation.

In a meeting with Iranian Police commanders in April, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei reminded the Police of its major responsibility to take action against the trade of weapons, saying, “The sale and purchase of weapons is free in some countries, like the US, because of the interests of the rifle-manufacturing companies mafia, which causes problems for its people, but in our country, where no such problem exists and the trade of weapons is prohibited, it must be prevented.”

Stressing the necessity for a ban on arms trade in the virtual space, the Leader urged the Police to address such cases, noting that an assailant that shot dead a cleric in Iran’s western city of Hamedan on April 27 had posted his photos with four different rifles on his Instagram page before the homicide.