40 Percent of Afghanistan's Heroin is Transited Through Iran

The newspapers Shargh and Resalat have published reports on a "gathering of Basij students in front of the French embassy," noting that during this gathering, Ahmad Tavakoli, a conservative member of the ninth parliament, and Alireza Panahian, a cleric close to the Stability Front, criticized the Rouhani government. The Law newspaper also reported with the headline "Insult in Paris, Gathering in Nofel Loshato" that the subject of the gathering on Tuesday in Tehran was not a protest against Britain and its actions, "but rather a new enmity added to the enemies of Islam, against which they gathered and protested, of course very calmly and peacefully, without arson or vandalism." Mohammad Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, the President of Afghanistan, in a detailed interview with Sara Masoumi, a reporter for the Etemad newspaper, emphasized that "the stability of Afghanistan is beneficial for both Iran and the United States," referring to the need for multilateral cooperation between Iran and Afghanistan, including to combat the "black economy," and stated: "At least 40 percent of the heroin" produced in Afghanistan reaches "other countries via Iran." The Shahrvand newspaper reported, citing Bijan Zanganeh, the Minister of Oil, that "gasoline will not become more expensive in 2015." According to this newspaper, the Minister of Oil responded on Tuesday to the question of whether the government has plans to increase gasoline prices in 2015, saying: "The government has no plans to increase the prices of petroleum products next year." The Etemad newspaper reported that Iran's foreign exchange income in the first six months of this year was "48 billion dollars." According to this newspaper, the share of "oil exports in the first half of this year was 33 billion and 631 million dollars" and the share of "non-oil exports was 15 billion dollars." The Iran newspaper, in its Tuesday issue, reported the news of the "revocation of the license" of the newspaper Mardom Emruz, stating that "some representatives of the Stability Front" are trying to expel Mohammad Ghouchani from journalism. The Ta'adol newspaper in its Tuesday headline reported on the "return of inflation to an upward trajectory" and, citing a report from the Monetary and Banking Research Institute of Iran titled "Short-Term Outlook for the Iranian Economy," wrote: "The point-to-point inflation rate, which experienced its lowest value in Shahrivar at 14.4 percent, has been on the rise since Aban and reached 16.7 percent in Dey." The Jahan San'at newspaper in its front page reported on Mohammad Nahavandian, the head of the President's Office, promising traders and producers to "end the rent-seeking." The Kaseb o Kar newspaper, while publishing a report on the "continuation of importing old aircraft" into Iran's aviation fleet, quoted Ainollah Ardishiri, an aviation expert, stating: "The import of second-hand aircraft through several intermediaries and brokers to Iran and imposing them on airlines and continuously repairing them has become a routine for the authorities and officials of the country's aviation industry, and it seems that this trend is not going to change." Some Tuesday newspapers dedicated their front page photos to the presence of Hassan Rouhani or Mohammad Javad Zarif and several other members of the eleventh government in the "metro" on the occasion of Clean Air Days. The Iran, Aftab Yazd, Etemad, Kaseb o Kar, and Shahrvand newspapers selected a photo of Hassan Rouhani, the President of the eleventh government, in the metro for their front page. The Shahrvand newspaper, in a report titled "Cabinet in the Metro," wrote that on Tuesday, Hassan Rouhani, the Islamic Republic's President, along with the head of the Environmental Protection Organization, visited the Tehran metro so that Clean Air Day would not be limited to just being on the calendar and holding special ceremonies for this day. The Etemad and Ebtekar newspapers, in addition to their front page photos, dedicated their headlines to the statements of Mohammad Javad Zarif, quoting the Islamic Republic's Foreign Minister as saying: "There is a possibility of a nuclear agreement in Bahman." The Javan newspaper, in its front page, quoted Abbas Araghchi, the Deputy Foreign Minister of Iran, as saying: "If pressures increase, we will leave the negotiation table." The Kayhan and Javan newspapers published the "two-word message from the Secretary-General of Hezbollah Lebanon" for Israel on their front pages. Kayhan, while reporting the deaths of several members of Hezbollah Lebanon and also "Mohammad Ali Allahdadi," one of the senior commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in an Israeli army attack, wrote: Following this attack "on a village in the Quneitra region," the Secretary-General of Hezbollah Lebanon advised the Israelis in a two-word message to "prepare your shelters." The "gathering of Basij students" in front of the French embassy to protest the Iranian Foreign Ministry. The newspapers Shargh and Resalat, while publishing reports on the "gathering of Basij students in front of the French embassy," noted that during this gathering, Ahmad Tavakoli, a conservative member of the ninth parliament, and Alireza Panahian, a cleric close to the Stability Front, criticized the Iranian Foreign Ministry. The Shargh newspaper wrote: "An anti-government gathering of a group of Basij students and other segments of the people of Tehran protesting the insult to the Prophet [of Islam] was held on Tuesday afternoon in front of the French embassy in Tehran," and the protesters chanted slogans such as "Hosseini, Hosseini, our slogan is martyrdom, glory is our honor, Labayk O Muhammad, death to France, death to Israel, France, France, shame on you, there is no god but Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, death to France and Zionism, the blood that runs in our veins is a gift from our leader, death to the traitor, death to the compromiser, death to American ISIS." According to this newspaper, the protesters symbolically changed the name of the street Nofel Loshato next to the French embassy by writing the name of the Islamic Prophet on a street sign. Shargh wrote that during this gathering, Ahmad Tavakoli, a member of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, referred to the Charlie Hebdo publication as a "bad newspaper" and said: "The attack on this bad newspaper seems to be staged and carried out by the spy forces of Mossad and the CIA." According to this newspaper, Ahmad Tavakoli criticized the performance of the Iranian Foreign Ministry, stating among the protesters in front of the French embassy: "While un-Islamic behaviors against Muslims are taking place in France, our Foreign Ministry does not show appropriate behavior," during which the protesters chanted "Foreign Ministry, insight, insight," "Foreign Ministry, revolutionary action." Shargh also reported that Mohsen Mirhaji, a representative of the Basij students of Tehran University, also stated during this gathering: "We do not expect revolutionary behavior from the government, but this government should expel the identity-less French ambassador from the country and the Foreign Minister should not walk with the devil." According to this newspaper, the protesters in front of the French embassy in Tehran also chanted slogans such as "The revolutionary parliament is for impeachment, impeachment," "death to the offenders," and "the French embassy must be closed," and Alireza Panahian, a member of the "Amir al-Mu'minin Headquarters," also stated during this gathering that "European countries, like dogs with collars, have handed their leashes to America." Shargh also noted Alireza Panahian's criticism of the "performance of the Iranian Foreign Ministry" and wrote: "After this speech, the protesters chanted 'Foreign Minister, authority, authority.'" The Resalat newspaper also published four photos from the Basij students' gathering in front of the French embassy in Tehran, including a photo of Ahmad Tavakoli during his speech at this gathering, and quoted this conservative member of the ninth parliament addressing Mohammad Javad Zarif, the Foreign Minister of the eleventh government, stating: "Your leadership considered you the children of the revolution, so you should not have let out a single cry against the insulting act against the Prophet." According to this newspaper, Ahmad Tavakoli at the student protest gathering in front of the French embassy said: "When such a crime against the beliefs of Muslims is taking place in France, why should the officials of the Foreign Ministry behave in such a way and travel to France and meet with the insulting Foreign Minister of that country?" Resalat also quoted Ahmad Tavakoli as saying: "My message to those who are members of campaigns against Islam within the country is that you must respect the beliefs of Muslims and adhere to the sanctity of the Prophet of Islam because the Prophet is a common face of the Iranian tribes, and respecting the Prophet is the unifying factor of the Iranian nation, and the territorial integrity of Iran is contingent upon Islam." The Law newspaper also reported with the headline "Insult in Paris, Gathering in Nofel Loshato" that on Tuesday, "only a few minutes past three in the afternoon, the trickle of protesters began to flow towards the French embassy," and this time the subject of the gathering was not a protest against Britain and its actions, "but rather a new enmity added to the enemies of Islam, against which they gathered and protested, of course very calmly and peacefully, without arson or vandalism." This newspaper wrote: "At the beginning of the ceremony, some people from the southwest corner of the embassy came, but were guided to Hafez Street due to the obstruction by security and law enforcement forces. That side was filled with flags of Ya Hussein, Ya Zahra. Some were shouting, 'Death to Zionist and fascist France,' the crowd was chanting, 'This whole army has come for the love of the leader,' while a group was reciting Salawat on Muhammad, but the point here was that everyone had one goal, which was to protest against the double standard and racist behavior in the world." Saman Saberian, in a report for the Law newspaper, referring to Ahmad Tavakoli's speech criticizing Mohammad Javad Zarif and also the slogans against the Foreign Ministry at this gathering, wrote: "It seemed that there was no shorter wall than Mohammad Javad Zarif, and they demanded that the President express an appropriate reaction to the Foreign Minister's thoughtless action [due to the trip to Paris] and compel the Foreign Ministry to expel the French ambassador from Iran." The President of Afghanistan: 40 percent of Afghanistan's heroin is transited through Iran. Mohammad Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, the President of Afghanistan, in a detailed interview with Sara Masoumi, a reporter for the Etemad newspaper, emphasized that "the stability of Afghanistan is beneficial for both Iran and the United States," referring to the need for multilateral cooperation between Iran and Afghanistan, including to combat the "black economy," and stated: "At least 40 percent of the heroin produced in Afghanistan reaches other countries via Iran." The President of Afghanistan pointed out that "Afghanistan must transform from a marginal position and a hot or cold battlefield into a center for regional cooperation to create wealth, peace, and stability." He stated: "In our fundamental policy, there are principles that Afghanistan will never allow any of its partners or allies to use Afghan soil to attack the territory of another partner, especially its neighbors. The second issue is that the stability of Afghanistan is beneficial for Iran, the United States, Pakistan, and India." Mohammad Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, in his interview with Etemad, also referred to the "black economy" and stated: "The war in Afghanistan is not political but criminal. That is why our cooperation with Iran regarding the elimination of the black economy, which exists on both sides, is necessary." The President of Afghanistan pointed out that the smuggling of 40 percent of the heroin produced in Afghanistan through Iran is significant, stating: "The figure for heroin trafficking is very high, and trafficking is a serious bilateral threat. At least 40 percent of our heroin reaches other countries via Iran, and addressing this issue requires serious and comprehensive cooperation to fundamentally eliminate the existing threats," and "our main goal is to create peace, but our larger goal is to establish stability." Mohammad Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, referring to the fact that "the new governance system is facing a serious threat from transnational terrorist networks, and preserving the states and the interests of the states is embedded in strengthening a regional cooperation system," told the Etemad newspaper: "The threats we face in 2015 are not comparable to the threats of the 1990s and 1998 and 2000. On one hand, we have common interests in terms of states, and our common interests are creating peace and alleviating poverty, climate issues, and water security. On the other hand, we are facing serious threats. These threats cannot be solved solely within the borders of one country, but require regional and international cooperation. Afghanistan will take the lead in this path to create the ground for cooperation among governments that do not agree on all issues, at least regarding Afghanistan." The President of Afghanistan emphasized that "Iran and Afghanistan have common interests," stating: "There is no instability in Iran, and this country has good stability in the region. Instability in Iran leads to instability in Afghanistan, and also instability in Afghanistan will spill over to Iran. The second issue is the production, transfer, and use of narcotics, which is a concern for both countries. Creating suitable conditions provides an opportunity for comprehensive cooperation to eliminate this vile phenomenon. The third issue is that Iran is one of the main transit routes to Afghanistan," and another issue is "Afghan migrants in Iran. Millions of Afghans are currently living in Iran, and this issue is of fundamental importance to us to gradually and wisely return Afghan migrants to the country while expanding economic cooperation with Iran." Mohammad Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, in response to Sara Masoumi's question about the possibility of signing a "strategic cooperation agreement" between Afghanistan and Iran, stated: "Signing this agreement will take time; of course, the fundamental points of cooperation have been determined, but the administrative details take time. Our goal in seeking to sign this agreement is clear, and that is that we want to have a multilateral cooperation program with Iran. The dimensions of these cooperations must be specified so that both technically and politically, comprehensive assessments can be conducted.