/ 1
TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli and his Austrian counterpart Johanna Mikl-Leitner in a meeting in Vienna on Tuesday underlined the need for the broadening of mutual cooperation in campaign against drug-trafficking.
During the meeting in the Austrian capital today, Rahmani Fazli and Mikl-Leitner agreed on setting up a workgroup comprising representatives of the two countries' interior ministries to update the contents of an anti-narcotics memorandum of understanding (MoU) already signed between Iran and Austria in 2002.
The Iranian interior minister pointed to Iran's campaign against drug trafficking, and said, "Iran blocks the transit of a major portion of narcotics consignments from Afghanistan to Europe and seizes over 500 tons of illicit drugs every year."
Rahmani Fazli said that Iran is ready to hold the first meeting of the anti-narcotics officials of 31 countries that are on the drug trafficking route from Afghanistan to Europe.
The Austrian interior minister, for his part, thanked Iran for serious confrontation against the drug traffickers and seizure of over half of the heroin cargoes that the international drug traffickers intend to smuggle to Europe thru Iran.
On Monday, Iran and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) signed a cooperation pact on campaign against drug trafficking.
The pact was signed by Iranian Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli and UNODC Deputy Director General and Executive Director Yury Fedotov in a meeting in Vienna.
After signing the document, Rahmani Fazli and Fedotov took part in a high-level meeting, "Partners of Afghanistan and Neighboring Countries", which was underway in the Austrian capital.
Attended by high-ranking officials from Afghanistan's neighboring countries, the meeting opened on Monday to discuss how to eradicate the business of illicit drugs in the region.
The Iranian minister delivered a speech at the international anti-narcotics meeting.
In February, Fedotov voiced the UN body's pleasure in the unparalleled efforts made by Iran in its massive campaign against drug trafficking all throughout the past decades.
"No country in the world can compete with Iran when it comes to the amount of the narcotics discovered and seized," Fedotov told reporters on the sidelines of an international meeting on anti-drug campaign.
He noted that UNODC and Iran are planning further mutual cooperation in the fight against narcotics, and said, "The UNODC and Iran will finalize a five-year anti-drug plan in the next two months."
Fedotov said after holding meetings with senior Iranian anti-drug officials, the UNODC has prepared a list of the equipment needed by Iran, but the country could not have supplied them due to the western sanctions.
"After being finalized, the list will be reviewed in an upcoming meeting of the UNODC in New York and we will try to supply Iran with the needed equipment," the UNODC executive director promised.