Iran Nuclear: Drugs As Weapon Against Europe

[Abrad]

www.adnki.com
Tehran, 2 June (AKI) - Iran could favour drug trafficking towards European countries in retaliation for UN sanctions over Tehran's nuclear programme, Iran's chief prosecutor Ghorban Ali Dari Najafabadi told conservative daily Resalat on Friday. Other leading members of Iran's establishment have hinted that drugs could be used as a weapon against Europe.

"Should Europe continue to defy the Islamic Republic, Iran could favour drug trafficking towards Europe, obviously not through its territory, but for example by sea," said the chief prosecutor, quoted by Resalat.

Najafabadi was referring to a package of incentives and penalties drafted by European countries to convince Iran give up its nuclear programme, which world powers fear is aimed at building nuclear weapons. Iran risks UN sanctions if it refuses the deal in the coming weeks.

A few days earlier, online newspaper Roozonline quoted Iranian drug-control chief Fada-Hussein Maleki as claiming that Tehran "could remove all current obstacles on drug trafficking from Afghanistan towards Europe and inundate the West with drugs."

Despite the leaders' statements, authorities in Iran have reportedly been unable to stem the flow of drugs across the border from Afghanistan, despite a desperate battle.