IRAN: COUNTRY SIGNS DRUG AGREEMENT WITH UN скачать в хорошем качестве

IRAN: COUNTRY SIGNS DRUG AGREEMENT WITH UN

(8 Apr 1998) English/Nat Iran has signed an agreement with the United Nations on fighting drug proliferation and use, Iranian television reported on Tuesday. Iran is a key transit route for drugs smuggled from Afghanistan and Pakistan to Europe and Gulf Arab states. Iranian officials say there are half a (m) million addicts in the country of more than 60 (m) million people, but local media have put the figure as high as one (m) million. A mass funeral was held in Tehran earlier this month for some of the Iranian anti-narcotics guards killed fighting the war against the well-armed and organised drug smugglers, trafficking narcotics through Iran. Although Iran deploys a large number of guards along its eastern border with Pakistan and Afghanistan, the length and vastness of the desert makes stopping the flow of narcotics extremely difficult. Iran's geographical location has made it a crossroads in the international traffic of narcotics toward Europe and the United States. Only about ten per cent of drugs are intercepted and confiscated - most of them in shoot-outs with the heavily armed smugglers. The Iranian news agency I-R-N-A said police in northeastern Khorasan province, which borders Afghanistan and Turkmenistan, seized nearly two tonnes of drugs and killed five suspected smugglers in clashes with three gangs in the past two weeks. Burning the drug hauls has become routine in Iran. And now, according to Iranian television, Iran has signed an agreement with the United Nations on fighting drug proliferation and use. The deal is said to include the setting up of anti-drug education programmes in Iran. In the last few years, Iran has stepped up its efforts to stop the flow of narcotics through its borders. And since President Mohammad Khatami came to power, Iran has been furthering its efforts in the war against drugs to gain the recognition and respect of the international community. The U-N International Drug Control Programme is lending Iran support in its fight against drugs, and more importantly financial aid. But despite Iran's efforts, the United States recently said Iran is still not doing enough to fight drug trafficking. SOUNDBITE: (English) "Four nations - Cambodia, Colombia, Pakistan and Paraguay - were not certified for cooperating, but were granted national interests waiver. Four others were denied certification outright. These are Afghanistan, Burma, Iran and Nigeria." SUPER CAPTION: Madeleine Albright, U-S Secretary of State Iran has a domestic drug abuse problem too. Those who turn to drugs often find themselves in overcrowded and badly managed rehabilitation centres that are no better than prisons. Even prisons housing international drug smugglers - mostly Pakistanis and Afghanis - are badly overcrowded. President Khatami has vowed to change all this. He recently sacked the director of the prison system, a hardliner who had held the position of Iran's top jailer for more than 15 years. Last year, Iran hosted a gathering of top international anti-narcotics authorities to discuss common contingency plans for future cooperation between countries in the region. And now with the reported signing of an agreement between Iran and the United Nations, the fight against drugs is being taken one step further. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...