Eskandar Momeni, the Secretary General of the Drug Control Headquarters, has stated that despite the Taliban’s assertions of reducing poppy cultivation in Afghanistan, Iran has observed no decrease in drug smuggling from the country.
According to Iranian media, Momeni emphasized the ongoing issue, suggesting that if poppy cultivation were truly banned, it should also lead to the eradication of its storage.
This statement comes in the wake of a report by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, which highlighted that a significant portion of poppies smuggled out of Afghanistan ends up in Iran and Pakistan. The report elaborates that these poppies are processed into heroin within Iran and Pakistan before being trafficked to Europe.
In an earlier statement, Zabiullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban, conceded in an interview with RTA, a state media outlet under Taliban control, that their efforts have yet to fully curb drug smuggling from Afghanistan.
