TEHRAN — Iran's Anti-narcotics Police Chief General Ali Moayedi said on Sunday that the Islamic Republic and Afghanistan plan to enhance cooperation on combating drug trafficking from Afghanistan to Iran and other countries.

“Afghanistan’s narcotics problems have plagued Iran as one of its neighbors so it is necessary for us to pay due attention to it,” Moayedi said in a meeting with Afghan deputy interior minister of counter-narcotics division General Baz Mohammad Ahmadi in Tehran.

“A joint anti-narcotics center has been set up in Iran with the cooperation of Afghanistan and Pakistan, which will monitor drug trafficking cases online,” Moayedi said.

Ahmadi appreciated efforts by Iran’s police to fight drug trafficking and called on them to share their experience with the Afghan police forces.

He named the ongoing 30-year war in Afghanistan as a factor contributing to the drug smuggling in the region.

Widespread support and collaboration is required to put an end to the issue, he concluded.

MQ/OS