TEHRAN – During an open session of the Iranian parliament on Sunday, MPs explored ways of dealing with the issue of dust storms, which has affected many provinces in the country, especially border regions in eastern and western Iran. 

 

The director of Iran’s Environment Protection Organization, Mohammad Javad Mohammadizadeh, also attended the session and gave a report on the issue. 

 

A number of MPs proposed solutions to the problem and called on the Environment Protection Organization to take serious measures to resolve the issue that has made the people miserable and endangered their health. 

 

During his speech, Ali Mohammad Ahmadi, an MP representing the western city of Dehloran in the Majlis, said that dust storms have disrupted normal life in southern cities and border towns and have negatively affected the people’s businesses, adding that unfortunately officials have not taken any effective measures to help mitigate the problem, which has blighted the lives of the people.  

 

He also said that the destruction of green space and severe droughts have aggravated the situation and proposed that measures would be taken to revive dried-up ponds around the country. 

 

In addition, he suggested other solutions, such as pouring oil derivative mulch on deserts and increasing precipitation through cloud seeding.

 

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.

 

On July 6, One hundred and fifty Iranian MPs issued a statement calling on the administration to take the measures necessary to tackle the issue of dust storms. However, the administration has failed to appropriately respond to the demand. 

 

AM/PA