Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov.2/ Trend F.Milad/
Iran and Iraq signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to promote environmental protection, the IRIB News Agency reported.
The director of Iran's Environmental Protection Organisation Mohammad Javad Mohammadizadeh and Iraqi Minister of Environment Sargon Lazon Sliwah signed the MoU in Baghdad. According to the document, the two parties are required to cooperate on the issue of dust storms.
The deputy director of Iran's Environmental Protection Organisation, Ali Mohammad Shaer said on October 31 that during his visit, Mohammadizadeh will hold talks with Iraqi officials in order to push for the implementation of previous agreements between the two countries on the issue of sandstorms and work out new agreements in this regard.
He said that the measures taken by the Iraqi government have not been enough to resolve the issue.
He went on to say that projects to plant trees and revive ponds are underway, but the process of the implementation of the plans is too slow, adding that he is hopeful that new agreements will help expedite the process of dealing with the issue.
Experts say sandstorms descend on Iran from the deserts and dried up pools of Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
Many pools which were once located in the arid and desert regions stretching from the eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea to Iran have gone dry over recent years.
This on-going desertification process has greatly increased the number of sandstorms in the region and each year heavy storms envelope more than half of the country.
In 2009, Iran and Iraq signed an agreement according to which Iraq should have poured oil derivative mulch on deserts, but Iraq did not fulfil its commitment.
On July 4, 150 Iranian lawmakers issued a statement calling on the administration to take the necessary measures to tackle the issue of sandstorms which have affected 23 provinces in the country.
MPs wrote that certain relevant officials are not serious enough in addressing the fact that the amount of floating dust particles in the air in the affected provinces is much higher than the permitted level, making citizens' lives a misery.