Qadir Qiafa, deputy head of Iran's Chamber of Commerce, said that precious and semi-precious stones mined in Afghanistan are smuggled into Iran and sold.

He added that Iran is interested in investing in Afghanistan's mining sector; however, sanctions imposed by the United States have affected Iran's investments in Afghanistan.

The Islamic Emirate has announced efforts to prevent the smuggling of mineral resources, particularly precious stones from Afghanistan, and emphasized cooperation with Iran to stop the trafficking.

Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesman for the Islamic Emirate, said: “The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is making its utmost effort to completely stop smuggling. In this regard, cooperation with Iran is also needed. We have instructed our forces to prevent the smuggling of prohibited items and to pay serious attention to this issue.”

The Chamber of Commerce and Investment has been focused on creating markets for the sale of Afghan mineral materials, especially precious and semi-precious stones, by the Islamic Emirate to prevent smuggling.

Jaan Agha Naveed, spokesman for the Chamber of Commerce and Investment, said: “At that time, we had specific markets in the former Soviet Union, the United States, and India. Now we can reactivate these markets and also create opportunities within Afghanistan for processing and selling locally.”

At the same time, several Iranian traders said that the Afghan lapis lazuli, ruby, sapphire, and emerald markets in Iran are particularly booming and are mostly used in decorating precious jewelry.

These traders are calling for the establishment of a joint standard factory for processing precious and semi-precious stones between Afghanistan and Iran within Afghanistan.

Ali Akbar Sheibani Fard, an Iranian trader, said: “A joint operation should be conducted between Afghan and Iranian traders at a specific site where extraction and processing can be done, and from that site, it can be sent to other countries.”

Mortaza Jalali, another trader, said: “Lapis lazuli is very useful; agates are being imported and have good use.”

Previously, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce had reported that in 1402, precious stones worth more than $2 million were exported to Pakistan, China, Uzbekistan, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, and Germany.