Tasnim� Iranian Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli said the country�s police forces have managed to disband some 11,000 drug rings over the past four years.

Addressing a Tuesday ceremony held on the occasion of the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, Rahmani Fazli highlighted Iran�s concerted efforts to fight against illicit drugs, saying all of the country�s law enforcement, judicial and intelligence organizations have had �an acceptable performance� in this area.

Over the past four years, Iranian security forces have carried out 8,880 operations and armed clashes with drug smugglers in the country, smashing nearly 11,000 drug rings, he said.

Rahmani Fazli went on to say that in the clashes, more than 2,500 tons of illicit drugs, including narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, have been captured from the traffickers.

Iran, which has a 900-kilometer common border with Afghanistan, has been used as the main conduit for smuggling Afghan drugs to narcotics kingpins in Europe.

Despite high economic and human costs, the Islamic Republic has been actively fighting drug-trafficking over the past three decades.

The country has spent more than $700 million on sealing its borders and preventing the transit of narcotics destined for European, Arab and Central Asian countries.

The war on drug trade originating from Afghanistan has claimed the lives of nearly 4,000 Iranian police officers over the past 38 years.