TEHRAN- An official at the Department of Environment announced that 3,000 billion rials (about $90.8 million) were allocated to anti-desertification projects including: growing soil, stabilizing trees, erosion control and revival of lagoons, the Mehr news agency reported on Saturday.

According to Motasedi, the Department of Environment, the Forests, Range and Watershed Management Organization and the ministries of Agriculture and Energy are jointly executing some programs under the Supreme Council of Environment to fight the dust problem and try to bring it under control.
Motasedi argued that patience was needed in order to tackle the problem. He said: “several meetings were held with Iraqi officials and two memorandums of understanding have been signed in this regard.”
“Also, the discussions that the head of the Environmental Department had with UN officials have turned the problem into an international and a regional challenge and we hope to solve the crisis in the coming years with some [appropriate] measures and with the efforts of our citizens.”
Motesadi blamed human causes and natural events for the dust pollution problem in Iran.
He also announced that a monitoring team from the Ministry of the Interior will be dealing with dust pollution across the country as an additional measure.


Caption: a scene of Iran’s deserts in Khorsan Razavi