Iran vows to follow up anti-drugs effort

The Iranian Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Ali Asghar Soltanieh says the Islamic Republic is determined to go ahead with its counter-narcotics measures, Press TV reports.
Tehran will vigorously pursue the “Triangular Initiative” brokered by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) on drug control cooperation between Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan, Soltanieh told reporters on Tuesday.

“Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan are implementing the Triangular Initiative on the fight against narcotics. The plan is to expand and include African and Central Asian countries as well,” he added, IRNA reported.

The Islamic Republic is a pioneer of the project and is ready to transfer its experience to other countries in order to prevent the Iranian nation from suffering any damage and to also adopt serious measures to tackle narcotics across the world, he stated.

Soltanieh, who is also Iran's Ambassador to other Vienna-based international organizations, stated that the Container Control Program (CCP) will be implemented in the Middle East in the near future.

In 2003, the World Customs Organization (WCO) and the UNODC initiated the CCP for the purpose of enhancing port surveillance in developing countries to minimize the risk of maritime containers being exploited and used for illicit drug trafficking, transnational organized crime and other forms of fraudulent activity.

The ambassador said that in case of the implementation of the program in Iran, the UN will provide Iran with technical and educational aid and advanced equipment to help the country control border regions.

Soltanieh's remarks came after a delegation, comprising of Iran's anti-narcotics police chief Hamid Reza Hossein Abadi, the UNODC Executive Director Yury Fedotov and Iran's Soltanieh, visited Iran's eastern border region with Afghanistan.

The UNODC chief, who arrived Monday in Tehran for a three-day visit, lauded Iran's efforts to curb drug trafficking and urged other countries to follow its example.