Dust storms to increase air pollution in Tehran, western Iranian cities

TEHRAN,June 10(MNA) – The director of Tehran’s Air Quality Control Company said on Sunday that dust storms originating from neighboring Arab countries would increase air pollution in the capital and the country’s western cities in coming days. Yousef Rashidi also said that dust storms severely affect the health of citizens and called on the relevant officials to seriously deal with the issue of dust storms and make every effort to help resolve the problem through holding negotiations with the country’s Arab neighbors. Experts say the dust storms descend on Iran from the deserts and dried-up ponds of Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Many ponds 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 the years. This ongoing desertification process has greatly increased the number of dust storms in the region, and every year heavy dust storms envelope more than half of Iran. In October 2012, the director of Iran’s Environmental Protection Organization, Mohammad Javad Mohammadizadeh, travelled to Iraq to discuss the issue of dust storms with Iraqi officials and push for the implementation of agreements between the two countries in this regard.