Iran, Britain to Cooperate in Fighting Narcotics in Afghanistan
Speaking at the second joint Iran-Britain Seminar on reducing narcotics production, he added that Afghanistan is a county which has undergone suppression for many years and now that it has gained its freedom, humanitarian assistance can be dispatched to the country.
He also expressed hope that Iran, with cooperation from Britain, will be successful in reducing narcotics production in the war-torn country.
Although Iran has suffered enormously both financially and in terms of loss of human life in fighting drugs, the menace has not yet been overcome, he said.
Although Iran sealed off its borders, traffickers have devised innovative solutions to smuggle drugs into the country, Fallah underlined.
He said given that Iran is at the fore of the anti-drug campaign on one hand and the surplus value that the drug smuggling creates in Europe, Iran and Europe should have closer cooperation on the issue.
He further alluded the Britain's assistance internationally to fight drug trafficking.
Fallah said new drug treatment approaches are needed in Iran adding, "We intend to impose punishment for small drug offense as an alternative to current imprisonment laws."
The second Iran-Britain seminar on ways of reducing drugs is being held in Tehran May 5-6.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan's production of various illicit drugs decreased by 75 percent last year, Head of the Anti-Drugs Headquarters Mohammad Fallah said here earlier in April.
At a meeting here with the Austrian Minister of Justice Michael Krueger, Fallah noted the decrease has resulted from Iran's efforts to give Afghan farmers various kinds of grains and fertilizers and encourage them to replace poppy cultivation with other crops, IRNA reported.
Underlining a trilateral information-security cooperation between Iran, Pakistan and the United Nations in fighting drug-smuggling, the official announced his country's readiness to train Afghan farmers, purchasing various crops cultivated instead of poppy and preparing the ground for a free-of-charge transit of these crops.