The UNODC experts have repeatedly rejected Iran’s request for the necessary equipment in the battle against narcotics, making the excuse that the equipment do not meet the UNODC standards, Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, who is also head of Iran’s anti-drugs headquarters, told reporters in Tehran on Tuesday.
He also complained that the UN body has not provided any financial support for Iran so far.
Earlier on Monday, UNODC Executive Director Yuri Fedotov praised Iran’s achievements in the anti-narcotics campaign, and said, “No country is identical to Iran in terms of fighting against illicit drugs.”
“If we draw a comparison between Iran and other countries, it will only be based on the number of martyrs killed in the campaign against drugs,” he told reporters on the sidelines of an international conference in Tehran.
Iran is on a major transit route for drugs being smuggled from Afghanistan to Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and the country's war on drug-traffickers has claimed the lives of nearly 4,000 Iranian police forces over the past 35 years.
According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, Iran is netting eight times more opium and three times more heroin than all other countries in the world combined.