Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli made the remark in a meeting with his Swiss counterpart Alain Berset in New York, on the sidelines of the UNGASS 2016 on Drugs.
Rahmani Fazli referred to the spiritual and material costs the Islamic Republic pays in the fight against drug trafficking, such as the number of people who die or suffer disability in this field, the annual discovery of several hundred tons of narcotics, and thousands of cases on clashes with the traffickers, and warned about the exploitations of extremist and terrorist groups from financial resources obtained from drug trafficking.
The Swiss interior minister, for his part, hailed the measures taken by the Islamic Republic of Iran in fighting illicit drugs, and highlighted the need for expanding international cooperation in this regard.
He went on to add that strategies for fighting drug trafficking in his country have been decided on four main aspects of ‘prevention’, ‘treatment’, ‘damage reduction’ and ‘countering and controlling drug distribution’.
The two interior ministers reaffirmed the need for providing the necessary conditions for joint scientific cooperation in the field of fighting illicit drugs, particularly in the areas of exchanging information and experiences on prevention, treatment of addicts, and reducing the damage caused by addiction.
The two sides also agreed to exchange expert delegations and draw up a framework for cooperation in the form of a joint cooperation document.
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