Tasnim � The Iranian capital, Tehran, is playing host to an international conference on narcotics trafficking in an attempt to rally support for more global cooperation against illicit drugs.





Titled �Tehran International Conference on Cooperation against Illicit Drugs and Related Organized Crime�, the event opened in the Iranian capital on Monday in a ceremony attended by Iranian Interior Minister Rahmani Fazli and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Executive Director Yury Fedotov.

The two senior�officials are presiding over the conference's sessions.

Thirty five representatives from countries in Southwest Asia, Central Asia and Europe are attending the international conference. Representatives of 19 international organizations are also present at the event.

Iran is on a major transit route for drugs being smuggled from Afghanistan to Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Despite high economic and human costs, the Islamic Republic has been actively fighting drug trafficking. The war on drug trade originating from Afghanistan has claimed the lives of nearly 4,000 Iranian police officers over the past three decades.

According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, Iran is netting eight times more opium and three times more heroin than all other countries in the world combined.