[caption id="attachment_84954" align="alignright" width="189"] Secretary General of Iran's Drug Control Headquarters (DCH) Abdorrahman Rahmani Fazli[/caption]
Tehran, Feb 16, IRNA – Interior Minister and Secretary General of Iran's Drug Control Headquarters (DCH) Abdorrahman Rahmani Fazli said narcotics trafficking is a threat to the sustainable development of all regional countries.

Addressing the opening of a meeting of anti-drugs officials of regional countries here on Monday, he said despite Iran's measures to control joint borders and increase international cooperation, there is still the threat of illicit drugs trafficking looming in the region.


He believed the threat damages the sustainable development process in regional countries.

Rahmani further referred to a United Nations report in 2014 which shows steady growth of cultivation and production of drugs in Afghanistan in the past years.

This has resulted in growing violence, money laundering and corruption in Afghanistan which spreads to other countries as well, he added.

Regretting the rising number of the youth suffering from drugs-related crimes in the region, he pointed to the failure of development projects in Afghanistan and the presence of alien forces there as major reasons for the growing poppy production in the country.

He believed it was for the whole world and not just regional countries to try to stop cultivation and production of drugs in Afghanistan by enforcing development projects.

The minister stressed that Iran, as a neighbor of Afghanistan and also a country which is in the shortest distance from Europe which is the ultimate destination of drugs traffickers, has been spending huge sums of money to block its borders both in east and west of the country with the aim of stopping the wave of smuggled drugs.

Outlining Iran's numerous programs to stop drugs trafficking, Rahmani Fazli stressed the need for the global community to strengthen cooperation and coordination to fight drugs trafficking.

By IRNA