ID :
189371
Sat, 06/18/2011 - 08:48
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/189371
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Iran exerts 'titanic efforts' to protect people from drug threat - FSKN chief
TEHRAN, June 18 (Itar-Tass) -- Iran is exerting "truly titanic
efforts" to protect its citizens from the drug threat, the director of the
Russian federal service for drug control (FSKN), Viktor Ivanov, told
Itar-Tass in an exclusive interview. During his visit to Iran he attended
a meeting of the chiefs of anti-drug trafficking agencies of the Caspian
littoral states (Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan),
which took place in the Iranian city of Anzali on Friday.
"In recent years on the Iranian-Afghan border there have been dug more
than 700 kilometers of ditches, extensive border fortifications have been
built, including barbed wire entanglements and concrete fences. They have
had the effect of a dam, which in the first half of this year reduced the
smuggling of Afghan heroin to Iran by half. However, the flows have been
redirected, and some of them went northwards. The Iranians have been
warning us about this, but they are obliged, above all, to protect their
own country," Ivanov said.
In his view, it is too early for Iran to feel calm. "Of course, drug
traffic will bypass the dam erected by Iran. The likely routes lie through
the Strait of Hormuz and through the south on the border with Pakistan,
where there is a very unstable situation. Therefore, we proposed the
establishment of a Caspian anti-drug information center, to be
headquartered, presumably in Iran. This will allow the competent
authorities of the Caspian Five to ensure the circulation of information
to coordinate our activities and conduct joint operations. In addition, we
voiced Russia's invitation to the other Caspian states to participate
actively in the operation Caspian Star. It is being held by our Astrakhan
office. The results are impressive: over the past year 16 large drug
shipments weighing half a tonne have been intercepted. This is a serious
intensification of our work of late," said Ivanov.
"In addition, at the meeting in Anzali, we agreed to create a working
group of experts. It will hold regular meetings and develop proposals to
be submitted to the heads of anti-drug agencies. This provision is also
enshrined in the Protocol, signed in Anzali," the director of the Russian
federal drug control service said.
Ivanov recalled that the Caspian Sea was an inland body of water and
all issues related to security, including drug security, were governed
exclusively by the littoral states. He recalled President Dmitry Medvedev'
s statement at the summit of the Caspian states in Baku last November: "If
we at some point ease our interaction, you should have no doubts that the
wish to take care of our issues will be displayed by other states, which
have no relation to the region, but which are interested to come here for
attaining their own economic and even political aims".
-0-str
efforts" to protect its citizens from the drug threat, the director of the
Russian federal service for drug control (FSKN), Viktor Ivanov, told
Itar-Tass in an exclusive interview. During his visit to Iran he attended
a meeting of the chiefs of anti-drug trafficking agencies of the Caspian
littoral states (Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan),
which took place in the Iranian city of Anzali on Friday.
"In recent years on the Iranian-Afghan border there have been dug more
than 700 kilometers of ditches, extensive border fortifications have been
built, including barbed wire entanglements and concrete fences. They have
had the effect of a dam, which in the first half of this year reduced the
smuggling of Afghan heroin to Iran by half. However, the flows have been
redirected, and some of them went northwards. The Iranians have been
warning us about this, but they are obliged, above all, to protect their
own country," Ivanov said.
In his view, it is too early for Iran to feel calm. "Of course, drug
traffic will bypass the dam erected by Iran. The likely routes lie through
the Strait of Hormuz and through the south on the border with Pakistan,
where there is a very unstable situation. Therefore, we proposed the
establishment of a Caspian anti-drug information center, to be
headquartered, presumably in Iran. This will allow the competent
authorities of the Caspian Five to ensure the circulation of information
to coordinate our activities and conduct joint operations. In addition, we
voiced Russia's invitation to the other Caspian states to participate
actively in the operation Caspian Star. It is being held by our Astrakhan
office. The results are impressive: over the past year 16 large drug
shipments weighing half a tonne have been intercepted. This is a serious
intensification of our work of late," said Ivanov.
"In addition, at the meeting in Anzali, we agreed to create a working
group of experts. It will hold regular meetings and develop proposals to
be submitted to the heads of anti-drug agencies. This provision is also
enshrined in the Protocol, signed in Anzali," the director of the Russian
federal drug control service said.
Ivanov recalled that the Caspian Sea was an inland body of water and
all issues related to security, including drug security, were governed
exclusively by the littoral states. He recalled President Dmitry Medvedev'
s statement at the summit of the Caspian states in Baku last November: "If
we at some point ease our interaction, you should have no doubts that the
wish to take care of our issues will be displayed by other states, which
have no relation to the region, but which are interested to come here for
attaining their own economic and even political aims".
-0-str
