The last official estimate conducted by the USG in 1993 indicated opium poppy cultivation on approximately 3,500 hectares, yielding 35-70 metric tons of opium. Some of the opiates transiting Iran are processed into morphine base or heroin by Baluchis in the southeast, and Kurds and Azeris in the northwest. Drug Flow and Transit. Turkey seizes opiates that have transited Iran, some by sealed trucks, others by more primitive means. Ethnic Iranian traffickers in Turkey use their connections to facilitate shipments through Iran.
Opiates enter Iran from Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The USG has no direct information about demand reduction or treatment programs in Iran. Addicts are commonly arrested and treated by 'cold turkey' means. Prison officials claim they offer rehabilitation programs. Press reports put the total number of addicts at two million, but this estimate seems extremely high given the population of the country. In the absence of USG diplomatic relations with Iran, no narcotics initiatives are planned.