http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en
<http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=6362> &art=6362
5 June, 2006
Iran's new threat against Europe: drug trafficking
by Dariush Mirzai
Iranian authorities warn that if the West continues to threaten Tehran's
nuclear programme, Iran might stop fighting drug smuggling.
<http://www.asianews.it/files/img/6362_IRAN%20-%20droga%20%28150%20x%2090%29
.jpg>
Tehran (AsiaNews) - Dori Najafabadi, once head of Iran's secret services
under former President Khatami and currently Iran's Attorney General and a
close ally to Supreme Leader Khamenei, is quoted in conservative newspaper
Resalat as saying that if "Western states continue their pressures on Iran
over its nuclear programme, Iran can allow the transit of drugs and
narcotics through its waters and other areas." This threat echoes a recent
statement made by Fada Hossein Maleki, chairman of Iran's Drug Control
Agency, who said that "[i]f Iran wanted to, it could end its barriers to the
drug traffic and thus allow it to flood the West," as quoted in Rooz Online
(May 30).
This is not the first provocation that Iranian authorities shamelessly make.
They are in fact used to alternating threats to pledges of cooperation in
order to increase their importance. Iran has played the same card whenever
it has stressed its influence in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as Lebanon and
the Occupied Palestinian Territories. But this is dangerous game since it
confirms Iran's rogue state's status not only in the eyes of Bush's friends
but also among moderate European governments.
When it comes to drug trafficking Iran has so far played a positive role,
cooperating with the international community in an attempt to stop or at
least slow down drug trafficking from Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Cooperation is carried out through the United Nations Office on Drugs and
Crime or UNODC, which has a bureau in Tehran as well as in countries with
which Iran has poor relations like the United Kingdom.
Iran has been assisted in fighting drug trafficking but has also paid a
heavy price. Since 1979 the Islamic Republic has said that it has suffered
the loss of 3,500 'martyrs' in the war on drugs. Yet this has not just been
a 'gift' to the West.
Tehran has carried out military operations against drug smugglers in areas
where anti-regime groups (representing dissident religious or ethnic
minorities) have been fighting the central government and used drug sales to
finance their operations.
What is more, drug addiction has become a serious and growing problem in
Iran itself, one that affects both rich and poor, government officials as
well as jobless and desperate youth. In a country where corruption and
trafficking of all sorts are rampant, drug trafficking has enriched a few
Iranians close to the regime.
Cynicism and domestic interests thus explain why Attorney General Dori
Najafabadi is not that concerned of possible consequences to his provocative
statement. They also explain why he singled out maritime as opposed to
overland routes for his statement illustrates the absence of a state based
on the rule of law and the extremism of its ruling elites.
However, his words pose a danger to Iran itself for they can be seen as a
reminder of the country's ambitions and role in the region, for better or
worse.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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