Iran is on the heroin supply route from Asia to Europe

Iran has been taking some radical steps to try to eradicate drug abuse.

Earlier this year, a slum area of east Tehran - notorious as a drug centre - was simply bulldozed, and five alleged ringleaders were publicly hanged.

A new cultural and sports complex is being inaugurated in the same place.

But the man in charge of Iran's campaign against drugs - General Mohammed Fallah - has no illusions that narcotics abuse can be wiped out by such physical measures.

He believes that only a wide-ranging sustained campaign of public information, linked to serious efforts to tackle the social roots of the problem, will bring real results.

Addiction rates

In the meantime, addiction rates in Iranian society are growing alarmingly. According to official figures there are 1.2 million serious addicts and nearly a million occasional users, though other estimates go as high as six million users.

Recent reports indicate that drug abuse is spreading particularly rapidly among women and young people and in rural areas.

Iran's jails are overflowing with drug related criminals.

There is rising concern, too, over the spread of the HIV virus among addicted inmates sharing needles - so much so that one Tehran newspaper has called for free syringes to be distributed.

Afghan route

Iran has taken drastic measures to stop the flow of narcotics across its eastern border from Afghanistan.

More than 3,000 Iranian law enforcement personnel have been killed in the war with smugglers.

But it has had little effect in stemming the flow.

Iranian officials take some comfort from reports that cultivation of opium poppies inside Afghanistan has dropped sharply.

They are taking steps to help the Afghan farmers grow viable substitute crops.