ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN
ECO DCCU Country Profile 2005
Basic Country Facts
Geography/topography
Iran is situated in the southwest Asia with an area of 1,648,196 square kilometres, making it the world’s 17th largest country. It is located between 44 05”- 63 18’ in the eastern longitude and 25 03’ – 39 47’ in the northern latitude. It is bordered by Turkmenistan, the Caspian Sea, Armenia and Azerbaijan in the north; by Pakistan and Afghanistan in the east; by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman in the south and by Turkey and Iraq in the west.
Demographics and Human Development Index indicators
Population (2002): 68 million
GDP per capita (PPP, 2001): USD 6,000
Population under 15 years (2002): 36.5%
Human Development Index value (2001): 0.719
Illicit Drug Trends
Supply Side Trends: Cultivation, Production, Supply and Trafficking
Cultivation and Production
Iran had 33,000 hectares under cultivation prior to the Islamic Revolution in 1979. However, following swift remedial action by the law enforcement bodies, serious attempts were made to totally eradicate opium poppy cultivation in 1980. For the last years no licit or illicit cultivation of narcotic plants has been reported to take place in the territory of Iran.
Trafficking
Iran is still one of the main conduits for illegal drugs, namely opium, hashish, heroin and morphine base, originated in Afghanistan and Pakistan and destined to European and Persian Gulf markets. While the Central Asian trafficking routes are growing in importance, carrying up to one-third of the total volume of Afghan opiates, the several trans-Iranian trafficking routes continue to carry the lion’s share. While a number of factors contribute to the emergence of Central Asia as an important trafficking route for opiates from Afghanistan, it is not unreasonable to speculate that avoiding Iran’s tough enforcement efforts along its eastern border is part of the story.
According to rough estimates, some 50% of the total opiates production of Afghanistan transits the Iranian territory. A portion of it is supposedly absorbed by the internal market. The majority is smuggled out of the country for further processing and further forwarding toward European and Middle East consumer markets.
The mountainous, desert, sparsely settled nature of northern route smuggling route through Iran’s Khorasan Province, to Turkmenistan, to Tehran, and then to Turkey makes it hard to law enforcement officers. Traffickers are frequently well armed and dangerous. The southern route also passes through sparsely settled desert terrain on its way to Tehran en route to Turkey; some opiates moving along the southern route detour to Bandar Abbas and move by sea to the Persian Gulf states. Bandar Abbas also appears to be an entry point for precursor chemicals moving to refineries in Afghanistan. Iran does not specifically control precursor chemicals used for producing illicit drugs, but has made a number of important seizures, mostly at Bandar, of acetic anhydride, used in the refining of heroin. All precursor chemicals seized were consigned to Afghanistan. Azerbaijan and Armenia provide alternative routes to Russia and Europe that bypass Turkish interdiction efforts.
The camel caravans as the most important method for illicit drug transport carry up to 7 tons of narcotics. The advantage of this method is that there is no need for smugglers to accompany the caravans because the camels know the entire route and are controlled by traffickers from remote mountainous areas. Multi ton shipments of opiates in vehicular convoys enter the Iranian territory most of which have been spotted in certain areas particularly in the eastern provinces.
Demand Side Trends: Drug Abuse and Related Problems
Opium addiction in Iran has long historical roots, and it is a major social and health problem for the Islamic Republic’s Government. The Iranian Government estimates that Iran has 1.2 million hard addicts to assorted narcotics, while 800.000 others are casual users. Two million people consume narcotics in the 65-million-strong country who account for three percent of the country's population. Opium has the top consumption rate with heroin coming second. Heroin has not replaced opium, the traditional drug of abuse in Iran, but lower street prices for heroin, and shortages of opium plus higher prices for it have encouraged some addicts to switch from opium to heroin. Some heroin is smoked or sniffed, but a growing share is injected.
Addiction to synthetic drugs such as ATS which are illegally being brought into the country is also on the rise and there is need for caution since their dangers are well above those of natural narcotic components.
The Iranian Government seems particularly concerned over the sharp increase in intravenous drug abuse. Of the two million addicts estimated to be in the country, according to a recent government study, some 136,000 were injecting drug users. By the end of 2002, the number of deaths from drug abuse had increased by 230 percent to 2106 individuals from just 632 deaths in 2000, reflecting a shift in Iran to abuse of heroin, especially intravenous abuse.
Intravenous drug abuse remains the key challenge to combating the spread of HIV/AIDS in Iran. The vast majority of Iran's AIDS sufferers - 65 %- remain men who have contracted the disease through contaminated needles. Inmates in prison and the homeless are the most likely to take drugs by intravenous injection and to contract HIV through sharing needles. Sixty-seven percent of all recorded HIV cases are associated with drug abuse.
Counter-efforts
Domestic Drug Control Framework
Drug offenses are under the jurisdiction of the Revolutionary Courts. Punishment for narcotics offenses is severe, with death sentences possible for possession of more than 30 grams of heroin or five kilograms of opium. Those convicted of lesser offenses may be punished with imprisonment, fines, or lashings, although it is believed that lashings have been used less frequently in recent years. Offenders between the ages of 16 and 18 are afforded some leniency. More than 60 percent of the inmates in Iranian prisons are incarcerated for drug offenses, ranging from use to trafficking. Iran has executed more than 10,000 narcotics traffickers in the last decade; executions continue, but the UNODC reports that many in Iranian judiciary are questioning the deterrent effect of executions.
Countering Cultivation, Production, Supply and Trafficking
The Drug Control Headquarters coordinates the drug-related activities of the Anti-Narcotic Police, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Ministries of Intelligence, Security, Health and Islamic Guidance and Education.
Iran has adopted the following ways and means to control the drug trafficking via its territory:
A. Border Interdiction
Iran pursues an aggressive border interdiction effort. It has invested as much as U.S. $800 million in a system of beams, moats, concrete dams, sentry points, and observation towers, as well as a road along its entire eastern border with Pakistan and Afghanistan. It has installed 212 border posts, 205 observation posts, 22 concrete barriers, 290 km of canals (depth-4m, width-5m), 659 km of soil embankments, a 135 km barbed wire fence along joint border with Afghanistan and Pakistan, and 2,645 km of asphalt and gravel roads. It also has relocated numerous border villages to newly constructed sites.
B. Deployment of Military Division Near Eastern Borders
Three division of the Army comprising thirty thousand law enforcement officers are regularly deployed along the border and Iran reports that more than 3,200 law enforcement officials have been killed in clashes with heavily-armed smugglers during the last two decades. Interdiction efforts by the law enforcement officers have resulted in numerous drug seizures. According to unofficial figures, law enforcement officers seized 4615 kg of heroin, 11848 kg of morphine base, 159472 kg of opium and 74293 kg of hashish in 2004 in the territory of Iran.
C. Use of Advanced Electronic Systems in Customs and Airports
Iran is trying to procure modern and sophisticated equipment and tools to control the transit of illicit drugs into its territory. It is employing advanced electronic systems at customs and airports to this end.
Demand Reduction and Rehabilitation
In 2002, the National Drug Abuse Research and Training Institute officially opened. The Institute is expected to function as the main monitoring and specialized expertise center for all demand reduction programs in Iran. Iran is spending roughly 50 percent of its budgeted counter drug expenditures on demand reduction activities, a significant shift from recent expenditure patterns where most funds went for enforcement-related supply reduction. The shift seems a clear response to the growing social and health impact of more dangerous drug abuse (e.g., heroin vice opium) and the trend towards more intravenous heroin abuse with shared needles among certain addict populations.
Since 1995, public awareness campaigns and attention by the Iranian Government have given demand reduction a significant boost. The Iranian Government implements the UNODC’s NOROUZ (NarcOtics ReductiOn UnitiZed) Program through the projects of DARIUS (Drug Abuse Research and Intervention Unified Strategy for Iran) and AFGANIA (Action for Generating Awareness on the Narcotic Issue among Afghans in Iran) for demand reduction and community awareness.
The demand reduction activities including training, prevention, and treatment measures are enshrined in the new strategy. Treatment measures pursue three main objectives:
- Alleviation of users` dependency on drugs
- Reduction of drug related deaths and risks
- Social reintegration of ex-addicts.
Treatment services are made available through three processes:
a) In-patient treatment through the Ministry of Health. This process relates to those addicted to heroine and those who have failed to quit their habit. The measure has been followed as of 1979 and now there are 400 beds for the in-patient cases.
b) Treatment services provided by the Welfare Organization. The Welfare Organization has set up number of out-patient treatment centers for help seekers. Operational since 1997, some 80 out-patient centers are active nationwide. The patients have welcomed warmly the services provided in these centers. The Welfare Organozation has also set up therapeutic community (TC) centers to provide help to the addicts. There are now 20 TCs operational in major provinces of the country.
c) Treatment through private sector. Treatment centers run by the private sector which have been created based on a newly ratified mandate are providing services to the drug addicts.
Narcotics Anonymous and other self-help programs can be found in almost all districts as well and several NGOs focus on drug demand reduction. Approximately 90 government centers offering increasingly diverse types of drug abuse treatment are operating in the Islamic Republic of Iran; the number of such centers has tripled since 2000.
In the last Iranian year, which ended March 21, 2004, some 100.000 addicts were rehabilitated at the country's various drugs treatment centers.
International Cooperation
The I.R. of Iran has linked bilateral and multilateral agreements with number of states as well as regional and international organizations based on mutual understanding to address common threats.
Iran is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention. Iran is also a party to the 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic Substance, the 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, and it has signed and ratified, the 1972 Protocol amending the Single Convention in 2001.The UNODC is working with Iran since 1999 through the NOROUZ Program which has comprises four committees named; Sirus, Darius, Persepolice and Legal Assistance to modify its laws, train the judiciary, and improve the court system. The duration of the project is four years and its nearly 13 million dollars.
Iran is a member of the ten-nation Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), which established a Drug Control and Coordination Unit (DCCU) as part of its Secretariat.
Iran is also a member of the "Six plus Two" group (Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Iran, China, as well as the Russian Federation and the USA) to strengthen drug control cooperation among the countries bordering Afghanistan.
Iran has signed more than 30 (MoU) with different states. Some of these MoUs correspond the security with clauses on the fight against the illicit drugs. The inked MoUs cover a wide spectrum of topics including the exchange of information and experiences, means of conducting the anti\drug fight, measures to block new itineraries used by drug trafficking gangs, transfer of technology on how to detect drugs, treatment and rehabilitation of addicts, mutual legal assistance.
Iran has inked MoUs with Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Britain, Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Yugoslavia, Austria, Cyprus, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Russia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, India, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Venezuela, Philippines. Negotiations are underway to ink agreements with seven other states with related documents nearing the finalization stage. Draft MoUs have been exchanged between Iran and France, Germany, Australia and Canada.
Iran is also a party to two Southern Caucasus quadripartite Member of Understandings (MOU) on cooperation in drug control and activities against money laundering, facilitated by UNODC and signed, respectively, by Armenia, Georgia, Iran and UNODC and by Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran and UNODC. Since 2000, Iran has been hosting annual Conferences of Drug Liaison Officers posted in Pakistan and Turkey, as part of the activities to promote regional cooperation in drug control.
Sources and Publications used in preparing this profile:
q World Drug Report, UNODC 2004
q Global Illicit Drug Trends, UNODC 2003
q Country profiles at UNODC website
q Annual Report INCB 2004
q US State Department INCSR 2004 Report
q Drug Reports of Islamic Republic of Iran