Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Tuesday that 20 to 30 million liters of fuel are smuggled out of the country daily, calling it a catastrophe amid the country's energy crisis.

"This level of smuggling when [fuel] production and distribution are in our own hands is absolutely unacceptable," he said.

"With this amount of fuel smuggling, will the public accept that we cut off gas and electricity to the industrial [sector] to manage energy consumption?" Pezeshkian added.

Pezeshkian did not specify the destinations for the smuggled fuel, but fuel smuggling in Iran often involves routes to neighboring countries where fuel prices are significantly higher.

Earlier this month, Reuters reported, citing informed sources, that a sophisticated fuel oil smuggling network generating at least $1 billion a year for Iran and its proxies has flourished in Iraq since Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani took office in 2022.