TEHRAN – The secretary general of the Headquarters for the Campaign against Drug Trafficking on Wednesday stressed the importance of international support for fighting narcotics, saying that Iran spends $700 million to $1 billion a year on the campaign.
According to reports by international organization, Iran accounts for about 92% of opium catches, but it is entirely alone in the fight, Eskandar Momeni told IRNA news agency.
It includes securing the border, countering smuggling, identifying and monitoring transit routes, providing treatment to drug addicts and their rehabilitation, without any contributions from related international bodies, he added.
Since the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime opened its office in Tehran in 1999, Iran has established good cooperation with the United Nations on fighting drugs, Momeni said.
Despite hailing Iran’s efforts, the United Nations is dependent on donor nations, mainly the U.S. and Europeans, for funds which they are unwilling to give to the Islamic Republic.
Momeni said the most important problem in Iran’s fight against narcotics is its proximity to Afghanistan, which is the world’s largest producer of narcotics, and recently a major producer of methamphetamines.