The illegal drug production in Afghanistan has always been a major concern of the international community. Despite all of their concerted efforts, the global superpowers and international organizations have usually failed to tackle the problem of drug production in Afghanistan and the illicit trade of opiates from Afghanistan to the other countries of the world. According to statistics released by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Afghanistan produces 92% of the total world opiates. This amounts to an export value of about $4 billion, with a quarter being earned by opium farmers and the rest going to district officials, insurgents, warlords and drug traffickers.

The illegal production of narcotics in Afghanistan as a land-locked and war-torn country has continually increased and grown following the commencement of the U.S. War on Terror and the occupation of Afghanistan by the multinational forces in 2001. According to a report published by Pakistan's “The Nation” newspaper, 20 times more area has been brought under cultivation of opium poppy in the last nine years as it was just 7,606 hectares in the year 2001 against presently 1,57,000 hectares…

Although the United States has regularly proclaimed that it has programs and plans for impeding the illicit production of drugs in Afghanistan and prohibiting the export of opium to the other countries, the official facts and figures show quite the opposite and demonstrate that the opium trade and drug trafficking have dramatically surged during the post-Taliban invasion of Afghanistan.

As a neighboring country, Iran has extremely suffered from its adjacency to Afghanistan and been one of the victims of the U.S. War on Terror since the majority of the narcotics produced in Afghanistan pass through Iran to be illegally exported to the Europe and Russia.

According to Press TV, Iran's military officials believe that the production of drugs in Afghanistan has increased forty-folded following the U.S. invasion of the country.

The figures of UNODC indicate that Afghanistan produced only 185 tones of opium per year during the Taliban rule; however, this figure jumped to 3,400 tones per year under the Hamid Karzai's administration.

President Karzai had previously stated that opium production has become an indelible blot on the reputation of Afghanistan the multi-billion dollar profits of which goes to the foreigners while its disgrace remains for his country.

The United Nations announced last year that the net worth of the illegal export of opium from Afghanistan reached to $2.8 billion in 2009.

Iran has 900 kilometers of joint border with Afghanistan. Therefore, it has become the main gateway of tunneling opium from Afghanistan to Europe and Russia. Over the past two decades, more than 3600 Iranian police officers in charge of combating the drug trafficking were brutally killed by the Afghan drug smugglers in the Iran-Afghanistan border…

According to Iran's Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar, adopting security measures to protect the Iran-Afghanistan border and prevent the illegal entry of narcotics into the country has so far cost Iran more than $800 million.

The Islamic Republic of Iran has been constantly at the forefront of battle against drug trafficking and is considered to be one of the most significant role-players in the global coalition for resolving the Afghanistan's opium trade problem.

Iran is one of the governmental members of Paris Pact Initiative, a partnership of more than 50 countries and international organizations aimed at combating Afghan opiates trafficking, consumption and related problems in the affected priority countries along the Afghan opiates trafficking routes.

So far, Iran has taken part in several rounds of trilateral summits and meetings attended by officials from Afghanistan and Pakistan who are determined to find a solution for the Afghan drug crisis. The unrestricted distribution of Afghanistan's opium in the Central Asia region in addition to the effortless access of the drug smugglers to the boundaries of Iran which enables them to transit their illegal consignments to Europe without any obstruction have entangled Iran in a predicament which is practically implausible to get rid of. Therefore, Iran is seen as both a major contributor to Afghanistan's drug issue and a victim of illegal drug trade, as well.

However, Iran's constructive role in tackling Afghanistan's drug issue has always been praised by the international community, including the governments of Afghanistan and Pakistan, two states which are directly engaged and involved in the crisis.

According to Ahmad Moqbel Zarar, the Afghan Minister of Counter Narcotics, Iran can play the most important role in helping Afghanistan eradicate the cultivation and smuggling of drugs. In a joint press conference with Iran's Narcotics Police Chief on the late December 2010, Zarar underlined Iran's vital role in combating the drug trafficking and stated that Afghanistan is taking major steps to stamp out the cultivation of opium in various provinces with the help of Iran.

"Approximately, we have eradicated the cultivation of opium poppy in 20 provinces of Afghanistan and intend to increase this number to 25 provinces the coming year," said Moqbel Zarar.

During a meeting with Iran's Interior Minister on March 10, the UN Special Representative in Afghanistan Staffan de Mistura hailed Iran's role in combating the drug trafficking and said that the international community thanks Iran for its comprehensive efforts in the war against drug trafficking.

On November 25, 2010, officials from Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan attended a summit in Islamabad to discuss new solutions for putting an end to the opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan and drug trafficking from this country to the rest of the world. The security officials of these three countries are slated to carry out joint operations on the borders to battle the drug smugglers who want to transit opium and heroin to Russia and Europe.

Iran, however, does not consider the growth of opium production and drug trafficking in Afghanistan a conventional and uncomplicated issue. Iran's Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar who also chairs Iran's Initiative of Combating Drug Trade believes that Israel and CIA help promote and increase drug trafficking through the borders of Iran.

On a recent visit to the Iranian province of Kurdistan, Najjar said that the enemies of Iran, namely the United States and Israel, have certain plans for derailing Iran's security by assisting the drug smugglers and financing them.

Although Iran's police officials state that some 40% of the opiates produced in Afghanistan enter Iran for domestic consumption and exportation to Europe, it seems that with the cooperation of the Afghanistan's government, the problem is being solved progressively.

Anyway, it is for sure that Iran would greatly benefit from the extermination of opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan and a viable solution for the drug trafficking issue would unquestionably satisfy the Iranian people and government.