Secretary of Iran’s Human Rights Council Mohammad Javad Larijani lashed out at the European countries for their double-standard policies in campaign against drugs and terrorism, and called for their seriousness in fighting the two ominous phenomena.
“The European countries slogan about war conterrorism is based on double-standards,” Larijani said in a meeting with Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz in Tehran on Monday.
“Today, we are witnessing that the most infamous terrorists, including Monafeq (Hypocrites, a term used for the terrorist Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization, MKO also known as the MEK, NCR and PMOI, in Iran) and PJAK (Party for a Free Life in Kurdistan) and other groups whose hands are stained with the blood of thousands of innocent Iranian people, are freely visiting the European countries and are warmly hosted in those capitals,” he added.
Larijani also blasted the European states for their hues and cries about executions in Iran, and said most of those executions in the country are punishments for major drug traffickers and if the European countries increase their cooperation with Iran in fighting drugs and terrorism the number of executions will certainly decrease.
Tehran has always complained about the EU and other international bodies’ lack of serious cooperation with Iran in the campaign against drug trafficking from Afghanistan.
According to the UNODC World Drug Report 2013, Iran accounted for the highest rate of opium seizures (80 percent) as well as heroin seizures (30 percent) in the world this year.
According to official estimates, Iran’s battle against drugs cost the country around $1 billion annually. Strategies pursued by Tehran include digging canals, building barriers and installing barbed wire to seal the country’s borders, specially in the East.
Iran has recently established a central database and strengthened police-judiciary cooperation in a new effort to combat organized crime.
Every year, Iran burns more than 60 tons of seized narcotics as a symbol of its determination to fight drugs.
