Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli who was speaking in a meeting with Mr. Vladimir Timoshenko, Head of the State Service on Drug Control on Wednesday in New York, said Iran and Ukraine had prepared a draft of a MoU on drug fight on the sidelines of United Nations General Assembly in New York; “the draft will be signed by both countries’ officials soon; it asserts that Iran and Ukraine will cooperate in the following cases: fighting drugs and other psychological drugs and related delinquencies including prevention, treatment of drug addiction, reducing damage emanating from addiction, preparing training material, exchanging of experiences and information, fighting money-laundering and fighting financial cartels,” he detailed.

“We believe the most contributing factor to countries in their efforts and success in fighting drugs is internationally orchestrated cooperation where all countries are involved in the campaign,” added Mr. Rahmani Fazli.

Mr. Vladimir Timoshenko for his part hailed Iran’s measures in serious fight against drug trafficking and urged that Ukraine be provided with Iran’s experiences in the fight. Both officials also agreed to open new line of cooperation in manufacture of drug addiction treatments and methods as a joint venture.

Mr. Rahamni Fazli also met with Mrs. Salamat Azimi, Minister of Counter Narcotics of Afghanistan on the sidelienes of the UNODC in New York, where both sides agreed to implement as pilot a plan alternative livelihood program with UNODC’s contribution in one of Iran’s border provinces with Afghanistan. Rahmani Fazli urged regular exchange of data of drug trafficking, transit routes, and identity information of the heads of cartels between Iran and Afghanistan.

The meeting also agreed to hold the first inter-provincial meeting of Razavi Khorasan, Southern Khorasan, and Sistan and Baluchistan of Iran and Herat, Farah, and Nimrouz provinces of Afghanistan as partners. The exact date of the meeting will be coordinated by foreign ministries.

Ms. Salamat Azimi for her part called for Iran’s giving access to Afghanistan to its addiction treatment and medications necessary for tackling it, along with data on damage reduction, training of Afghani physicians in treatment of addiction, etc.

Still in a third meeting, minister of the interior talked to Singaporean Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Law K. Shanmugam; “the Islamic Republic of Iran is the first in terms of amount of drug discovery with 40 per cent of global drug discoveries; with thousands of rehabilitation centers, Iran has covered considerable numbers of addicts by its treatment and rehabilitation services; tackling the addiction problem entails effective prevention, prioritizing recource allocation to successful plans of fostering healthy individuals through preparing them for a healthy lifestyle,” he said.

Mr. Shanmugam for his part said his country was among the successful countries in terms of law enforcement and providing health services; “Singaporean code of drug fight hinges upon fighting trade and smuggle and helping addicts especially providing them with financial help in their attempt to quit drug abuse,” he told the meeting.