Iran Ready to Assist Afghanistan with Alternatives to Poppy Cultivation

Secretary of Iran’s Drug Control Headquarters Eskandar Momeni held a meeting with the United Nations Secretary General’s Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan at the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) Markus Potzel in Tehran on Sunday.

Highlighting Iran’s activities and remarkable achievements in the fight against drug trafficking, Momeni said the Islamic Republic has always supported peace, development and sustainable security in Afghanistan.

He also pointed to the history of Iran’s close cooperation with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), saying the Drug Control Headquarters of Iran is ready to work with the UN to wean the Afghan farmers off opium poppy cultivation, help them find realistic alternatives to poppy cultivation, contribute to sustainable development in Afghanistan, and reduce narcotic production in the neighboring country.

For his part, Potzel appreciated Iran’s measures at the regional level to combat drug trafficking.

He also called on Iran to keep cooperating with the UN to find a sustainable solution to the crisis of poppy cultivation in Afghanistan.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime said in a report in November 2022 that the 2022 opium crop in Afghanistan was the most profitable in years with cultivation up by nearly one-third and prices soaring, even as the country is gripped by cascading humanitarian and economic crises.

According to UNODC findings, opium cultivation in Afghanistan increased by 32 percent over 2021 to 233,000 hectares – making the 2022 crop the third largest area under cultivation since monitoring began. Cultivation continued to be concentrated in the south-western parts of Afghanistan, which accounted for 73 percent of the total area and saw the largest crop increases. In Helmand province, one-fifth of arable land was dedicated to opium poppy.

Afghan opiates supply some 80 percent of all opiate users in the world, the UNODC said.