Iran issues drugs transit threat
A senior Iranian official has threatened to allow the transit of illegal drugs through its territory to Europe should the West continue criticising the Islamic nation’s human rights record.
Mohammad Javad Larijani defended Iran’s record on fighting drug trafficking, noting that 74% of executions in Iran are related to drug offences.
The comments by Mr Larijani, who is the head of Iran’s High Council for Human Rights, were posted on the Iranian judiciary’s website today.
Iran lies on a major drugs route between Afghanistan and Europe and authorities regularly confiscate large amounts of drugs from traffickers, mainly opium and heroin.
Every year Iran burns some 66 tons of seized narcotics to signal its determination to fight drugs, officials said.
