Iran Deserving More Int'l Support in Anti-Drug Campaign
1 December 2014, Fars News Agency -TEHRAN (FNA)- Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Aldo Lale-Demoz voiced the UN body's pleasure in the efforts made by Iran in its massive campaign against drug trafficking all throughout the past decades, and said that the country deserves to receive more support from the international organizations in its war on narcotics. 
"Iran's achievements in its anti-drug campaign are praiseworthy and the country deserves more support from the international bodies," Lale-Demoz, also Head of the UNODC Division for Operations, said in a letter sent to Deputy Secretary General of Iran's Drug Control Headquarters Alireza Jazini on Monday.
He also thanked Iran for its commitments in combating drug trafficking, preventing addiction and affection to HIV virus. According to the UNODC World Drug Report 2013, Iran accounted for the highest rate of opium seizures (80 percent) as well as heroin seizures (30 percent) in the world last year. According to official estimates, Iran's battle against drugs cost the country around $1 billion annually. Strategies pursued by Tehran include digging canals, building barriers and installing barbed wire to seal the country's borders, specially in the East. Iran has recently established a central database and strengthened police-judiciary cooperation in a new effort to combat organized crime. Every year, Iran burns more than 60 tons of seized narcotics as a symbol of its determination to fight drugs.
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