• Kamran Jebreili / AP

    An Iranian smuggler carries a TV in his speedboat as he prepares for a short trip to cross the Strait of Hormuz to reach Iranian coastal areas, in Khasab, Oman. Even as sanctions squeeze Iran ever tighter, there's one clandestine route that remains open for business: A short sea corridor connecting a rocky nub of Oman with the Iranian coast about 35 miles across the Gulf.

    By land and by sea, Iranian smugglers work to deliver 42" LCD TVs

    AP reports:

    The operation smuggles in merchandise to avoid Iranian tariffs and to bring in American and European products that have disappeared from Iranian markets because of international sanctions. Experts note that the consumer items post no real challenge to efforts to block material with military or nuclear uses.

    "Still, it shows you can't close off all channels into Iran no matter how hard you try," said Paul Rogers, who follows security affairs at Bradford University in Britain. "People will find a way."

    Full story: Iran's Gulf smugglers slowed but not stopped by tensions