Iran Offers Help to UNODC
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The Iranian ambassador to Vienna-based international organizations voiced Iran’s readiness for cooperation with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in the war against narcotics and crimes.
Kazem Gharibabadi held a meeting with UNODC Executive Director Yuri Fedotov.
They discussed ways to promote cooperation between Tehran and UNODC on defined or developing programs, including the plans to equip Iran’s anti-narcotics police with modern equipment.
Pointing to close interaction between Tehran and UNODC, Gharibabadi expressed hope that the UN office’s secretariat would take advantage of Iranian experts’ technical and professional capabilities in the war against drugs and crime.
In comments earlier this month, UNODC representative in Iran praised the country’s progress in the campaign against crimes and corruption, saying Iran is a signatory to the UN convention and supports the international campaign on corruption.
Iran, which has a 900-kilometer common border with Afghanistan, has been used as the main conduit for smuggling Afghan drugs to narcotics kingpins in Europe.
Despite high economic and human costs, the Islamic Republic has been actively fighting drug-trafficking over the past decades.
The country has spent more than $700 million on sealing its borders and preventing the transit of narcotics destined for European, Arab and Central Asian countries.
The war on drug trade originating from Afghanistan has claimed the lives of nearly 4,000 Iranian police officers over the past four decades.
