ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq and Iran on Wednesday stressed the need to combat drugs, hailing their cooperation in the field as having significantly contributed to a reduction in drug smuggling crimes in the two neighboring countries.
Following a meeting with Iranian president's representative and Secretary-General of the National Narcotics Authority, Hussein Zolfaghari, Iraq's Minister of Health Saleh al-Hasnawi said "there is serious cooperation between the Iraqi and Iranian security and health authorities in combating drugs."
Hasnawi indicated that " "this cooperation has advanced to reduce drug smuggling crimes across the two countries."
Wednesday's meeting between the top Iraqi and Iranian officials was the second of its kind in under two years. In November 2023, Baghdad and Tehran signed a memorandum of understanding regarding combating the scourge of drugs.
"We were honored by the presence of [Iranian president's representative] at the second meeting on combating drugs and psychotropic substances," the health minister of Iraq said. "These meetings are the fruit of the memorandum of understanding signed between the Supreme Committee for Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances in Iraq and the Islamic Republic of Iran two years ago. This is the second meeting."
The Iraqi government official delved into further details that "the meeting's recommendations were effective, realistic, and applicable," expressing his hope for "further consolidation of relations between the two countries, as well as between Iraq and neighboring countries, to curb the phenomenon that has invaded society."
In recent years, Iraqi authorities have stepped up their fight against drug trafficking. The country, once mostly a transit route, has increasingly become a destination for narcotics - prompting alarm among officials and the public.
On August 20, Iraq’s interior ministry lauded the country as a “regional leader” in combating drugs, saying that authorities continue providing intelligence on international drug networks to combat the phenomenon.
The ministry referred to Iraqi intelligence cooperation in a recent bust of one of the largest Captagon manufacturing facilities in the Middle East in eastern Lebanon.
Iraqi authorities have seized 13 tons of narcotic substances since 2023, according to the ministry, adding strict judicial rulings, including death sentences, have helped deter major dealers, with more than 270 death sentences issued in comparison to five in the previous ten years.
Iraq is placed third among 138 countries in the world for combating drugs, according to World Police Summit's (WPS) rankings.
