🔻 How did sanctions turn Kolbars and Tahlanjis into part of Iran's imports?
🖌Ali Ramezanian, economic journalist
At midnight, in the border mountains of Baneh, a Kolbar walks with a heavy load in the dark; hundreds of miles away in the waters of the Persian Gulf, the captain of a wooden barge makes his way to the port amidst the waves. The Kolbar in the west and the Melvan (seafarer/smuggler) in the south have been symbols of Iran's marginal economy for many years; dangerous jobs created to provide a livelihood for border residents.