Iran Minister : Fighting Narcotics Requires Int'l Will

Kabul, Nov 28, IRNA – Iran’s Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar stressed the need for an international will to fight narcotics. In separate meetings with heads of anti-narcotics headquarters of Afghanistan and Pakistan here, he highlighted the importance of cooperation in anti-narcotics campaigns. He also stressed the need for joint programming and operations in both regional and international scales to uproot the narcotics problems which has already contaminated the whole world. During the meeting with the Afghanistan’s Minister of Counter Narcotics Zarar Ahmad Moqbel Sunday night, he outlined the calamities Iran was suffering because of transit of Afghan narcotics through its soil and said it was necessary that a practical step be taken to address the problem. He also stressed that Iran will continue to cooperate with Afghanistan in fighting cultivation and smuggling of narcotic drugs. The Afghan minister said fighting narcotics smugglers demanded a regional cooperation given the fact that Afghanistan’s narcotic stuff were transitted to other world countries through Iran, Pakistan and Tajikistan. In another meeting with Pakistani head of Anti-Narcotics Force Shakil Hussein, the Iranian minister stressed the need for further cooperation and establishment of joint operations. He regretted that 350 tons of narcotic drugs entered the Iranian soil only during the current year. Hussein called for expansion of cooperation with Iran in anti-narcotics campaign. Najjar is in Kabul to attend a tripartite meeting of foreign ministers of Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan on campaign against drug-trafficking. The three-day meeting is being held under aegis of the United Nations. The meeting will decide on a suitable mechanism to fight the growing menace of drug trafficking. On Sunday Najjar also said in an interview here that the presence of the US-led NATO forces in Afghanistan has increased the poppy cultivation and production of narcotics, as well as insecurity there. He stressed that cultivation and production of narcotics have been increased 40 times since 10 years ago when the US-led troops arrived in Afghanistan for the first time./end