United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

 

Under the Triangular Initiative (TI), the 4 ^th Counter Narcotics Intelligence and the 11 ^th Senior Officials Meetings (SOM) were held in Tehran on the 20 ^th and 21 ^st of October 2014. The Triangular Initiative is an action plan that commenced in 2007 to enhance counter-narcotics enforcement cooperation amongst the Islamic Republics of Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan. The meeting brought together senior officials from the three countries to discuss effective measures and strategies to strengthen counter-narcotics enforcement cooperation. The Afghanistan delegation was led by General Esmatullah Baluch and the Pakistan delegation was led by Major General Khawar Hanif.

Opening remarks were given by Dr. Alireza Jazini, Deputy Secretary General of the Drug Control Headquarters of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and by Mr. Aldo Lale-Demoz, UNODC Deputy Executive Director and Director of Operations. Mr. Leik Boonwaat, UNODC Representative to the Islamic Republic of Iran, presented the recommendations of the 4 ^th Counter-Narcotics Intelligence Meeting held on 20 October to the Senior Officials Meeting.

 

Discussions were held on the Joint Planning Cell and joint operations, Border Liaison Offices, cross-border communication, as well as a review of new initiatives such as alternative livelihoods, Maritime Regional Security Cooperation, Intensification of Border Cooperation and Forensic Regional Intelligence.

 

Mr. Lale-Demoz was accompanied by Mr. Alexander Schmidt, Chief of the Regional Section for Europe, West and Central Asia. During his visit to Tehran, Mr. Lale-Demoz also met with senior officials from the Drug Control Headquarters, the Head of the Anti-Narcotics Police, and senior officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The UNODC Deputy Executive Director visited a Drop-in Center (DIC) providing harm reduction services to drug users in Farahzad, where he stated that he was very impressed by the dedication of the staff at the DIC as well as the strong support provided by the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to harm reduction interventions. The UNODC Deputy Executive Director also met with Ambassadors and representatives from the Mini-Dublin Group in Tehran to discuss issues of common interest and concern as well as the new UNODC Country Partnership Programme (2015-2018) before leaving Tehran.