Gharibabadi delivered a speech at the World Anti-Narcotics Day ceremony in Vienna.
He said that one of the problems in the region is the situation of cultivation and production of narcotics in the neighboring countries as the largest producer of narcotics.
A recent report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) pointed to this issue, saying that no progress has been made in the neighboring country to control the cultivation and production of narcotics, he added.
Gharibabadi underlined that the continuation of drug cultivation and production means that drug traffickers have become more active and this will have dangerous consequences for the region and the world, especially developing countries and their development plans.
Referring to the 41 percent increase in the detection and confiscation of various types of narcotics in Iran in 2020 compared to the year before, he stated that this issue, on the one hand, indicates the effectiveness of Iran's countermeasure activities, and on the other hand, there are warning signs about the unprecedented increase in the seizure of narcotics in the region.
Gharibabadi described the exchange of information, financial support, non-weakening of counter-narcotics activities, the failure to undermine international drug conventions by legalizing certain types of drugs, and cooperation in the provision of counter-narcotics equipment and border control, among the important fields of international cooperation that should be paid more heed.
Criticizing unilateral and illegal sanctions and their impact on countries' capacity to counter-narcotics, the ambassador called for the lifting of such sanctions.
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