TEHRAN – The technical assistance of the international community is a necessity to fight against narcotics and drug smuggling, the director of the international relations office of the Anti-Narcotics Headquarters has said.

Amir Abbas Lotfi made the remarks in a meeting with the United Nations Board of Assessors headed by Bo Mathiasen the deputy director general of the operations department of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime on Wednesday.

Lotfi called on the United Nations to pay attention to persuading Iran's neighboring countries to continue regional cooperation, criticizing the insignificance of the allocated budgets of the United Nations to carry out anti-narcotics projects.

Of course, this issue requires the creation of the necessary grounds for providing equipment such as advanced border management systems and control devices for narcotics seizure to be deployed at the borders of the country.

Mathiasen, for his part, expressed his satisfaction with his visit to Iran and highlighted the unique role of the country in various aspects of the fight against drugs.

He also pointed to Iran's effective actions in national, regional, and international fields and effective cooperation with various United Nations agencies.

Leading country in narcotics seizure

Iran holds the record for narcotics confiscation in the world, Eskander Momeni, secretary general of the Anti-Narcotics Headquarters said in December 2021.

However, great achievements in the field of countermeasures have been gained, and the United Nations has officially announced that 90 percent of opium, 48 percent of morphine, and 26 percent of world heroin have been discovered by Iran.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime attaches special importance to the regional and global role of Iran in the fight against narcotics and, as a leading United Nations agency, Alexander Fedulov, UNODC Iran Country Representative, said in June.

In the Iranian calendar year ended in March 2021, about 1,200 tons of drugs were discovered, which was the highest rate of discovery in the world.

Despite the conditions caused by the coronavirus outbreak and the imposition of harsh sanctions against the country, fortunately, with the efforts of anti-narcotics police in 2020, drug detection increased by 41 percent.

After the Islamic Revolution (in 1979), more than 3,800 have been martyred, and 12,000 wounded and disabled in the fight against drug trafficking.

The UNODC has praised Iran’s efforts to fight against narcotics trafficking on the occasion of International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.

The organization also officially announced that the world’s first place in the discovery of opium, heroin, and morphine belongs to Iran.

According to UNODC, Iran remains one of the major transit routes for drug trafficking from Afghanistan to European countries and has had a leading role at the global level in drug-control campaigns.

UNODC World Drug Report 2020 estimates that in 2018, 91 percent of the world's opium, 48 percent of the world's morphine, and 26 percent of the world's heroin were seized by Iran.

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