Last update: March 29, 2024 01:04

Newsroom logo

Air Pollution In Iran’s Southwest Reaches Dangerous Levels

By Kazem Sarabi February 17, 2018

None

Iranians living in the western and southwestern parts of the country are most susceptible, since dust storms in those areas are all too frequent. / Morteza Jaberian / Tasnim News Agency

Heavy air pollution caused by dust and sand in Iran’s southwestern province of Khuzestan has surged 60 times above what are considered safe levels, making the region’s air unsafe for humans to breathe.

According to the Environmental Protection Organization of Khuzestan province, the air quality index in Ahvaz city showed 9,000 micrograms per cubic meter on February 13. Air pollution in Mahshahr reached 2,101 micrograms per cubic meter.

In January, Iran’s Supreme Leader, the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, authorized $150 million to be used for projects that would tackle the issue of dust pollution throughout Iran, which is sometimes attributed to heavy sand storms that are not uncommon in the Middle East.

Sometimes they wreak havoc on the economy - at least temporarily. Iran frequently cancels flights and closes down schools, kindergartens, and offices, thanks to the particles that get carried by the wind and penetrate a human’s lungs and enter the bloodstream. These can cause serious, lasting respiratory problems and diseases, including lung cancer, asthma and heart problems.

Iranians living in the western and southwestern parts of the country are most susceptible, since dust storms in those areas, which border Iraq, are all too frequent. What was once described as a problem has now, after a decade, become a crisis.

The first signs of sporadic sand and dust storms appeared in Khuzestan in 2005, only becoming worse ever since. Some Iranian experts say the dust pollution is coming in from neighboring Iraq, but others say the problem is not geography – rather internal mismanagement to address the issue is the real problem.

On December 20, the United Nations had approved a resolution proposed by Iran on combating dust and sandstorms.

“Referring to the negative repercussions of the sand and dust storms on the health of people, the resolution described this phenomenon as a serious barrier to achieving sustainable development,” Iran’s Ambassador to the United Nations Gholam Ali Khoshroo said, according to Mehr news.

According to the report by meteorological organization 27 percent of Khuzestan Province is facing extreme drought, while about 66 percent is considered “severe” and another 6.4 percent “moderate.”

Iran’s vice president and head of the Environmental Protection Organization Isa Kalantari admitted that the central government is helpless in confronting the problem, saying, “We should pray for winds to blow away the pollution.”

In January, Iranians in the eastern, southeastern and central provinces suffered from low precipitation and a prolonged drought, which prompted many to hold public prayer services, asking God to bestow rain upon their farms and lands.