Iran warns West it will allow transit of drugs to Europe

A senior Iranian official has threatened to allow the transit of illegal drugs through its territory to Europe should the West continue criticizing the Islamic nation's human rights record.

Mohammad Javad Larijani also defended Iran's record on fighting the drug trafficking, noting that 74 percent of executions in Iran are related to drug offenses.

The comments by Larijani, who is the head of Iran's High Council for Human Rights, were posted on the Iranian judiciary's website Saturday.

Iran lies on a major drug route between Afghanistan and Europe and authorities regularly confiscate large amounts of drugs from traffickers, mainly opium and heroin.

Every year Iran burns some 66 tons (60 metric tons) of seized narcotics to signal its determination to fight drugs.

Meanwhile, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad dismissed the oil minister and two other ministers on Saturday, news agency ISNA reported.

"Ministers of oil, social welfare and industries and mines were dismissed by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in order to slim down the government's ministries from 21 to 17," ISNA said.

A shake-up of the department in charge of the world's fifth- biggest oil exporter, was expected after some officials said earlier this month that the oil and energy ministries and
labour and social welfare ministries would be merged.

No announcement was made about who will take over any new merged protfolios. Parliament would have to approve the remit of any new ministry.

Getting approval from parliament, whose speaker Ali Larijani has publicly criticised Ahmadinejad's domestic and economic policies, will not be easy.

Iran's top authority Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has a discretion over key ministries, including oil, foreign, ntelligence and interior.

Source: http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/iran-warns-west-it-will-allow-transit-of-drugs-to-europe-if-criticism-continues-1.361640