Iran threatens unchecked transit of heroin and opium to Europe

Iran has told Europe and the West that it will allow the transit of heroin and opium to pass through its borders unchecked unless it stops receiving criticism over its human rights record.

A leading Iranian government official, Mohammad Javad Larijani, has defended his country's determination to stamp out drug trafficking by handing the ultimate penalty to those who use the Islamic Republic to transit drugs en route to Europe. But unless the West stops criticising Iran, Larijani warns that he may allow drug trafficking to continue unchecked. Iran is the first country on the drugs trial that begins in Afghanistan and ends in Europe. Every year Iran burns around 66 tons of seized narcotics to signal its intention to stop drug trafficking through its borders. Iran has defended its borders vehemently from Afghan-based drug smugglers and has built canals, concrete walls and installed barbed wire along its 550-mile border with Afghanistan. Larijani, who is head of Iran's Human Rights High Council, may struggle to implement his threat as it would have to pass through Iran's top authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In the Daily Mail it has been reported the bold statement made by Larijani also notes that 74 per cent of executions in the country are related to drug offences.