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Iran calls on neighboring states to jointly fight dust storms

Politics Materials 24 February 2017 16:47 (UTC +04:00)
Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has invited the governments of neighboring countries to join hands and fight the dust storms that has made life difficult for people in the region, including in southwestern Iran
Iran calls on neighboring states to jointly fight dust storms

Tehran, Iran, February 24
By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has invited the governments of neighboring countries to join hands and fight the dust storms that has made life difficult for people in the region, including in southwestern Iran.

“I invite the neighbors of the Islamic Republic of Iran to a joint program to fight the hazards that (were created by) former regimes, especially Saddam Hussein, and today by terrorists, especially the Islamic State (IS, SISL, ISIS, Daesh),” Zarif said inaugurating an environmental exhibition in Tehran, Mehr news agency reported February 24.

“This is necessary not only based on environmental grounds, but on security grounds as well,” the Iranian diplomat said.

Eleven cities in Khuzestan province of Iran, which has a population largely composed of ethnic Arabs and Lurs, lost power last weekend after an intense dust storm, leading to water shortages when water and
wastewater treatment plants were knocked offline.

Due to its arid climate, Khuzestan has, for many years, been suffering from dust pollutions that made it very difficult for its citizens to breathe. The dust storms that frequently hit Khuzestan are said to originate mainly in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Syria, making it hard for the Iranian government to handle them singlehandedly.

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