IRAN GETS $13 MILLION FROM UNITED NATIONS TO FIGHT DRUGS

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Iran will receive $13 million from
the United Nations to help fight drugs, the head of the U.N. Drug
Control Program said, according to a report Sunday.

Pino Arlacchi told reporters in Tehran on Saturday that $7 million
would be spent on border vigilance and the rest would go to research,
rehabilitation of addicts and raising drug awareness in local
communities, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported Sunday.

Arlacchi watched authorities set ablaze 50 tons of drugs seized from
smugglers to mark the opening of a U.N. anti-drug office in Tehran on
Saturday, said the IRNA report, which was monitored in Dubai.

Arlacchi praised Iran's "relentless efforts in their campaign against
drug trafficking and addiction."

Noting that about 3,000 Iranians have been killed in gun-battles with
drug smugglers, Arlacchi said, "I would like to thank the families of
the martyrs, their wives and children."

Iran has made great strides in the fight against drugs since ending
the 1980-88 war with Iraq. At the time, drugs and drug addiction were
rife across the nation.

In response, authorities burned poppy fields, introduced capital
punishment for drug trafficking and increased patrols on its borders
with Pakistan and Afghanistan, which it says are the main origin of
drugs flowing into Iran.