TEHRAN (FNA)- Russian Ambassador to Tehran Levan Dzhagaryan underlined the importance of Tehran-Moscow mutual cooperation in campaign against drug plantation, production and trafficking, and called for boosting joint efforts to this end.


Speaking about the importance of mutual cooperation between Iran and Russia in campaign against narcotic drugs, the Russian envoy said, “proximity of the two countries to Afghanistan’s borders, which is the major producer of narcotic drugs in the world, calls for shared efforts of Tehran and Moscow in the campaign against narcotic drugs trafficking.”

He said that the Russian Federation’s Anti-Narcotic Drugs Organization has made serious efforts for expansion of cooperation with Iran in this campaign in the past ten years, the Islamic republic news agency reported.

Dzagaryan added, “In this while the heads of anti-narcotic drugs organizations of Iran and Russia have had several meetings and cooperation in the field has expanded noticeably.

In January 2012, Iranian Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar paid a visit to Moscow to meet Russian officials, including Director of the Russian Federal Drug Control Service Viktor Ivanov.

The interior minister's visit to Russia took place at the invitation of his Russian counterpart Rashid Nurgaliyev.

During the three day visit, Najjar also met Viktor Ivanov and other Russian top political figures.

In June 2011, Mohammad Najjar stressed Tehran and Moscow's significant role in fighting illicit drugs in the region, and stated that the two sides plan to expand mutual cooperation in the campaign against narcotics.

Tehran and Moscow agreed to establish a joint intelligence team to exchange information and plan joint operations, the Iranian minister said at the time.

In December 2010, Iran and Russia signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation in campaigning narcotics and drug-traffickers.

The agreement was signed by Mohammad Najjar and Viktor Ivanov, here in Tehran.

Following the endorsement ceremony, Najjar told reporters that Iran and Russia embarked on signing the cooperation agreement because both countries are on the main transit route used by international drug networks.

Eastern Iran borders Afghanistan, which is the world's number one opium and drug producer. Iran's geographical position has made the country a favorite transit corridor for drug traffickers who intend to smuggle their cargoes from Afghanistan to drug dealers in Europe.

According to the World Drug Report 2012, the Islamic Republic of Iran in 2010 was ranked first in terms of opium and heroin seizures, accounting for 81% of the world opium seizures and 34% of the world heroin seizures.

According to the UNODC, these days, 93 percent of the world's opium is produced in the neighboring Afghanistan, 60 percent of which is destined for the EU and specially US markets, and the main transit route is Iran, where the country's dedicated police squad risk their lives to make the most discoveries of drug cargoes, disband drug-trafficking gangs and organizations and much more in a bid to rescue not only the Iranian youth but also all those living in Europe and the US.

Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran has lost more than 3,720 of its security forces in the war against drug traffickers.

Iran has always complained about the EU and other international bodies' lack of serious cooperation with Iran in the campaign against drug trafficking from Afghanistan.

By Fars News Agency

 

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