ISLAMABAD – Speaker Ali Larijani lashed out at the US destructive role inthe region, adding that opium production in Afghanistan has sharplyincreased in the last 18 years since the US attack in 2001.
In a meeting with the visiting Vice-Speaker of Iraqi Parliament BashirHaddad in Tehran on Monday, Larijani said that about 4,000 Iranians havelost their lives in the fight against illicit drugs, while since 2001, whenAmericans attacked Afghanistan, drug production has increased by 50 times.
“The US intervention creates problems for the Middle East region,”Larijani said during the meeting.
The top Iranian legislator also said “about 4,000 Iranians have beenmartyred during the fight against illegal drugs, while since 2001, whenAmericans attacked Afghanistan, drug production has increased by 50 timesin the neighboring country.”
Larijani further said that Iran will remain alongside Iraq as it did duringthe fight against terrorism.
Bashir Haddad, for his part, said that long shared borders between Iran andIraq lay the ground for expansion of ties between the two countries invarious fields, stressing the need for an increase in the number of bordercrossings to expand bilateral economic and trade relations.
Read Top Stories
The US military operation in Afghanistan began in 2001, as a partof then-US President George W. Bush’s “War on Terror” following the 9/11attacks. The operation swiftly ousted the Taliban government, but despitethat, the group retains control over the majority of Afghan territory. Theintervention also failed to thwart Afghanistan’s production of opium, whichreached a record level of 9,000 metric tons in 2017, according to aBrookings Institution report. Afghanistan is currently the world’s leadingopium producing country, according to the United Nations Office on Drugsand Crime monitoring.
The Iranian police officials maintain that drug production in Afghanistanhas undergone a 40-fold increase since the US-led invasion of the countryin 2001.
Afghan and western officials blame Washington and NATO for the change,saying that allies have “overlooked” the drug problem since invading thecountry more than 16 years ago.
