MOSCOW WELCOMES ANTI-DRUG COOPERATION WITH TEHRAN

TEHRAN -- Russian Ambassador to Tehran Alexander Maryasov in a meeting here
Monday with Secretary General of Iran's Drug Control Headquarters (IDCH)
Ali Hashemi handed him a message on behalf of his Russian counterpart.

In his letter, the Russian drug czar called for closer cooperation and
coordination between Tehran and Moscow on the anti-drug campaign, IRNA
reported.

"We consider Iran as main factor of stability in the region and Russia as a
powerful country cooperates with Iran in many areas, including waging an
effective anti-narcotics campaign," the Russian ambassador said. "Iran is a
principal player in the anti-drug fight on the international scene."
Hashemi expressed Iran's readiness to expand cooperation with Russia,
adding, "The country has bore a heavy burden in fighting drug trafficking
in the past 24 years."

Over 2.3 million kg of assortment of drugs have been seized and close to
dlrs one billion has been spent on beefing up Iran's borders to counter the
flow of narcotics, He underlined.

In a measure of Iran's seriousness to wage an effective campaign against
narcotics, Hashemi said here last month that Iran has signed anti-drug
agreements with over 30 countries. South Africa was the latest country with
which Iran inked an agreement on reducing narcotics demand as well as
preventing its trafficking, He said. "We are in discussions to sign
protocols with 26 more countries."

The Iranian officials have cautioned time and again on the threat that
illicit drugs pose to the country's social fabric, and stressing the need
for stemming the drug flow to the country.

Head of Police Organization Drug Control Headquarters Brigadier General
Mahdi Abouei has said the amount of drugs coming into the country from
eastern borders has increased significantly.

He also slammed the western powers on their lack of cooperation with Iran
on combating drug trafficking.

Abouei said despite Iran's efforts in controlling the drug flow to western
countries, 'unfortunately these countries have not shown effective
cooperation with Iran to stem the drug flow from Iran or control its
production in Afghanistan'.

He said over 3,500 to 4,000 tons of narcotics were produced in Afghanistan
last year and 'organized gang of narcotics smugglers have shown no bounds
and have multiplied their level of activities compared to last year'.

In the first quarter of the current Iranian year (started March 21) police
seized over 45 tons of narcotics throughout the country.

"The amount is 32 percent higher than in the same period last year," the
police official stated.