Drug control on Iran border to be costly

"The Majlis has approved 115 million dollars for budget allocation to strengthen border security this year. The Interior Ministry, however, had presented a 200-million-dollar-bill for the matter," Deputy Interior Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Mahdi Mohammadifar, said Tuesday.

"The administration needs a budget of three billion dollars for blocking all borders and it must be provided within a few years," the official added. He went on to say that though the country is concerned over its northern borders, its eastern and western borders are an even higher priority.

The Afghanistan-Pakistan border region has become one of the world's largest free-trade zones for anything illicit, from drugs and weapons to illegal immigration, a report by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has stated.

Iran lies on a transit corridor between opium-producing Afghanistan and drug dealers in Europe. To counter drug trafficking, the Iranian government has deployed thousands of security personnel along its eastern borders and has erected over 1,000 kilometers of embankments, canals, trenches, and cement walls.

UNODC Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa has praised Iran for its efforts in stemming the flow of drugs from Afghanistan to the West.

Mohammadifar, who said that Iran had closed its border with Afghanistan both physically and electronically, added that Tehran is also concerned about the Pakistani border.

Iran's has long borders with both Pakistan and Afghanistan. These borders have often been the scene of clashes between security forces and armed terrorist groups.

/Press TV/