On March 6 a meeting of Vasilii Piskarev
Vasily Ivanovich
, Chairman of the Committee on Security and Corruption Control, with Brigadier General Eskandar Momeni, Secretary-General the Iran Drug Control Headquarters, was held in the State Duma.
The participants of the meeting discussed the expansion of cooperation between Russia and Iran in countering the drug threat.
Eskandar Momeni said that Iran, in particular, is worried about the growth of drug trafficking from Afghanistan, where the production of various types of drugs has taken an industrial scale. “If in 2001 200 tons of drugs were produced in Afghanistan, then in 2018 the volume of drug production there reached a record 10,000 tons,” said the Secretary-General of the Iranian Drug Control Headquarters.
“Iran and Russia, which today are forced to resist the onslaught of international terrorism and drug crime, should actively exchange practical experience and develop cooperation in the area of countering these threats,” said Eskandar Momeni.
Vasilii Piskarev agreed with the head of the Iranian Drug Control Headquarters, stressing that terrorism and drug trafficking are often inextricably linked.
“We have to eliminate the financial sources of terrorism, such as drug sales. It is important to increase cooperation between our law enforcement agencies in countering the drug business,” the parliamentarian stressed.
In addition, Vasilii Piskarev noted the need to ensure ”the implementation of the principle of the inevitability of punishment and bringing persons to criminal responsibility regardless of the territory where a crime was committed.“
The participants of the meeting also discussed the session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime scheduled for March in Vienna. Vasilii Piskarev and Eskandar Momeni confirmed the positions of Russia and Iran, who do not support legalization of drugs started in a number of Western countries.
“We need new initiatives to prevent drug use and great activity of all countries in the anti-drug struggle, including in addressing the problem of drug trafficking on the Internet. This is a serious threat, we are fighting against it, in particular, the State Duma adopted a number of important laws in this area, and we are ready to share our groundwork,” said Vasilii Piskarev.
The Chairman of the Committee on Security and Corruption Control invited Eskandar Momeni to take part in the International Forum “Development of Parliamentarism”, where representatives of various countries intend to discuss among other things the issues of countering drug threats, terrorism, and cybercrime.
This is not the first meeting of Vasilii Piskarev with Eskandar Momeni. In November 2018 they met during the visit of the delegation of the Committee on Security and Corruption Control to Iran.
In December 2018 a delegation of the State Duma headed by Chairman of the State Duma Viacheslav Volodin
Vyacheslav Victorovich
The Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation of the eighth convocation. Elected in single mandate constituency № 163 (Saratov constituency - Saratov Oblast)
took part in the Second Conference of Speakers of the Parliaments of Afghanistan, China, Iran, Pakistan, Russia, and Turkey, which was held in Tehran.
