Iran Urges Fair Rules on Drug War
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s parliament speaker called for a mechanism to make the international community share the burden of the costly battle on narcotics, bemoaning the fact that the countries along the routes used for trafficking drugs to Europe are bearing the brunt of the drug war.
In an address to the “Parliamentarians against Drugs” conference in Moscow on Monday, Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani deplored the lack of a “balanced approach” to fighting against drugs.
The narcotics produced in Afghanistan are smuggled into Europe, but the countries lying in the transit route are paying the price for the war on drugs, Larijani deplored.
“Is Europe giving its share of the fight against drugs, or has it put the burden on the other regional counties? Is the NATO not stationed in Afghanistan? Why doesn’t it (NATO) supply enough equipment and tools for the fight against narcotics?” he asked.
Larijani noted that Iran, Russia, China, Tajikistan and Pakistan are major victims of the war on drugs originating from Afghanistan, while the NATO members are shirking their responsibility to curb drug trafficking in Afghanistan.
The annual production of drugs in Afghanistan stood at only 200 tons in 2001, but since the NATO invasion it has increased to 9,000 tons in 2017, the Iranian speaker added, deploring NATO’s inaction on the laboratories producing heroin in Afghanistan and it laxity in controlling drug trafficking at the airports it controls in the country.
Senior parliament officials from 43 countries have attended the ongoing conference in Moscow, sponsored by Russia’s State Duma.
Representatives from the United Nations have also taken part in the gathering.
