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Saudi eyes closer anti-drug cooperation with Iran
Saudi Arabia is looking to step up cooperation with Iran in fighting drug trafficking, a senior Saudi official said on Wednesday in Tehran, signaling warming ties between the regional rivals.
Saeed Mohammed Al-Wadaei, head of the Counter-Narcotics Office at the Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Tehran, said Riyadh wants to expand work with Iran on intelligence exchange, training, and operational strategies to combat what he called a “cross-border scourge”. He was speaking during talks with officials at Iran’s Drug Control Headquarters, IRNA reported.
“We are witnessing considerable progress in relations,” Al-Wadaei said, noting that Saudi Arabia aims to bring these ties “to the fore” through joint anti-drug efforts. He described the cooperation as part of building “friendly relations between two brotherly countries”.
Al-Wadaei stressed that drug crime often cuts across borders and even continents, underlining the need for international cooperation to tackle trafficking networks. “Fifty percent of the drugs seized in Saudi Arabia result from cooperation with neighboring countries,” he said, highlighting existing joint operations with states along regional trafficking routes.
Saudi Arabia’s National Committee for Combating Drugs is finalizing a five-year strategy that includes international cooperation as a key pillar, according to Al-Wadaei.
He revealed that the strategy lays out “major operational objectives” alongside its primary goals, with counter-trafficking collaboration among them.
He also voiced hope that an anti-drug clause embedded in past bilateral security agreements with Iran would be reactivated. “It would be a great pleasure to see this clause back in action,” he said.
Islam prohibits drug trafficking as a crime, Al-Wadaei noted, adding that both Tehran and Riyadh were working “with full force” to curb the problem. He said Saudi Arabia had reactivated its embassy’s counter-narcotics office in Tehran to further boost collaboration.