TEHRAN – 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, wishes to provide practical assistance to the Government of the Islamic Republic, Alexander Fedulov, UNODC Iran Country Representative, said.

He made the remarks at the World Anti-Narcotics Day Ceremony held in Tehran on Sunday.

The UNODC Office attaches special importance to the regional and global role of the Islamic Republic in the fight against narcotics, and the discovery of narcotics by the law-enforcement forces of Iran shows the country’s efforts with the United Nations beyond the regional level, he explained.

The UNODC attaches special importance to the regional and global role of the Islamic Republic in the fight against narcotics.“UNODC's current counter-narcotics program includes "Border Management and Trafficking", "Drug Prevention, Treatment, Rehabilitation, and HIV Care" and "Alternative Development and Sustainable Livelihoods", ISNA reported.

The second area of our cooperation is reducing the demand for drugs. I should mention that the areas of cooperation include increasing the capacities of service providers, piloting a capable family program; implementing a bio-dynamic plan prevention program, and establishing a regional center for the treatment of drug addicts.

UNODC has also provided items, including body scanners, installed at Imam Khomeini International Airport to help detect drugs,” he stated.

Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi also said that some 11 percent of the GDP is involved in narcotics issues, and Iran has sacrificed more than 3,800 martyrs in the fight against narcotics and has made 15,000 tons of narcotics discoveries.

In recent years, it has been proven that the Islamic Republic of Iran is alone in the fight against drugs. Because those countries who have to fight for themselves are in fact encouraging; But the fight against drugs in Iran is very serious and is being done diligently, he highlighted.

By resolution 42/112 of 7 December 1987, the General Assembly decided to observe June 26 as the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking as an expression of its determination to strengthen action and cooperation to achieve the goal of an international society free of drug abuse.

The World Narcotics Day theme for 2022 is "Addressing drug challenges in health and humanitarian crises'" with the objective of responding to transnational challenges generated by crisis situations.

World record of narcotics seizure

Iran holds the record for narcotics confiscation in the world, Eskandar Momeni, the director of anti-narcotics police 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, 70 percent of morphine, and 20 percent of world heroin have been discovered by Iran.

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.

According to figures released by the United Nations in 2000, Afghanistan produced about 200 tons of narcotics, but in 2018, it has grown to 9,500 tons.

In other words, the production of narcotics has increased fifty times, which has doubled the need for prevention efforts, he highlighted.

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), 3,800 were martyred, and 12,000 were 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 world opium, 48 percent of the world morphine, and 26 percent of the world heroin were seized by Iran.

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