Iran Press/Iran news: Iran pays heavy costs for campaign against drug smuggling, fighting large armed smugglers, Iran's Foreign Minister told in a speech held on the issue of drug smuggling on Monday.
Addressing the issue of drug smuggling, Iranian FM Mohammad Javad Zarif said that the western countries coped with drug smuggling in a give-and-take and retail scale while the problem in Iran has been tied to fight large armed smuggling groups.
Zarif stressed Iran's adherence to human rights and said that the country seeks to focus on the protect the rights of the families who were the victims of drug smuggling.
The Iranian minister also stressed that the US unilateral sanctions as well as war against the Iranian nation would hamper the country's cooperation on fighting drug smuggling, warning the Europeans against the consequences.
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 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 four decades. 215/213
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