Iran is planning to start growing legal opium poppies for medicinal use for the first time in decades, after its existing opiate supply was cut off by a Taliban crackdown in Afghanistan.
Iranian manufacturers of morphine and other opioids have relied for years on seizures of illicit Afghan drugs. However, hauls have plunged since the Taliban banned poppy cultivation in 2022, dropping from 750 tonnes in 2021 to around 200 last year, according to government estimates.
As the country’s Food and Drug Administration warns that a continued supply shortage could endanger public health, Iran is now aiming to produce enough poppies for its own consumption.
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