Iran demands UK accountability for Afghan drug problem

Iran’s foreign minister says Britain must be held accountable for the way it has managed the drug problem in Afghanistan which has led to a tenfold growth in narcotics production.

“Before anything else, the UK must answer to the international community about the kind of management it has employed in Afghanistan that has raised illicit drug production from a few hundred tons to around nine thousand (tons),” said Manouchehr Mottaki.

The Iranian foreign minister made the comment in an interview with Farsnews while flying back to Tehran following a short visit to neighboring Iraq.

Mottaki was referring to this month’s upcoming London summit on Afghanistan and chances of brining about any real change in the war-ravaged country.

He said he was hoping that during the gathering the countries responsible for the events of the past eight years in Afghanistan offer a clear response to the world public opinion for what they have brought to the country.

Mottaki said Tehran has not yet decided whether to participate in the summit or not, as it still has doubts about how effective these meetings can really be.

He emphasized that other than the two summits in Bonn and Tokyo, which focused on governmental infrastructure in Afghanistan and international aid for its reconstruction, the rest of the gatherings on the country “were merely held with the aim of dictating policies of certain countries, leading to the conditions that, after eight years, dominate Afghanistan today.”

The top Iranian diplomat noted that even if there were some positive outcomes, it was because of the patience shown by the “Afghan people and their caring government.”

Mottaki reiterated that all the US-led forces have managed to bring to Afghanistan are more insecurity, extremism, and poppy plantation.