TEHRAN - Gholamali Khoshroo, Iran’s ambassador to the UN, has said that Iran could encourage collective efforts at the international level to counter dust and sand storms.

“Today, the issue of dust storm is an international problem and all agree that cooperation and collective actions are required to counter it,” he said in an interview with IRNA published on Tuesday.

He said that international planning is required to counter dust and sand storm and their negative consequences.

The diplomat also said that the international bodies have always insisted the importance of Iran’s role in countering dust storms.

Iran’s southwest and west are hit hard once in a while by dusts mostly arising from Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Syria.

Estimates have shown that a third of dust and sand storms hitting Khuzestan province originate from inside and the rest from outside the country.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres released a report on September 6, saying that 151 countries are directly affected by the phenomenon, with 45 the mostly-hit, including 38 Asian and African countries, Khoshroo said. 

NA/PA