TEHRAN Iran's Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi and his Venezuelan counterpart Ivan Rinken Ourdanta signed a bilateral agreement to boost cooperation on judicial matters.

According to the agreement, they are to cooperate in a range of affairs including the judicial management and the use of the technology in the judicial cases running the prisons and fighting crimes.

Ayatollah Shahroudi said currently about 60-70 percent of the prisoners in Iran are those detained on charges of the drug-related offenses. He said about 2,000 tons of opium are smuggled from Afghanistan into Iran annually.

He added Iran has embarked on an initiative measure to replace the opium poppy with other crops in Afghanistan.

Ivan Ourdanta termed as positive the results of his Tehran visit and said he had gained good knowledge of Iran's Judiciary during his visit to Tehran.

He said the conduct with the prisoners in Iran is good and humane. Effective programs are being implemented for the social reintegration of the detainees, he added.

He said the illicit drug trafficking and abuse is problem facing the international community. He stressed the exchange of information between Iran and Venezuela in the judicial field. He praised the independence of Iranian Judiciary.

Ivan Rinken Ourdanta had earlier visited the Evin Prison in northern Tehran where Head of the State's Prisoners Organization Morteza Bakhtiari briefed the Venezuelan visitor on the situation of the prisons and inmates in Iran.

Bakhtiari said there are 229 rehabilitation centers, improvement and training clubs and rehabilitation camps in Iran.

"Out of the total number of the prisoners, 92,500 are addicts and drug traffickers while robbery and financial offenses stand next among the crimes for which people are put in prison," Bakhtiari added.

He also said, there are 4,800 woman inmates in Iran's prisons. He also responded to several questions posed by the Venezuelan Judiciary chief concerning the activities of prisoners.

Ourdanta, heading a delegation visited the central city of Isfahan on Thursday. He visited Chehel-Sotoun and Aali Qapoo buildings, Vank Church, Imam Square as well as the city's historical bridges during their one-day stay in the city.