TEHRAN - Approximately 250 natural disasters hit the country every year, Jafar Miadfar, head of Iran’s Emergency Organization, has said.

Based on a report published by the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR), the country is in the risk level eight out of ten, he added.

A total of 40 natural disasters are known in the world, 32 of which occur in Iran, ISNA quoted Miadfar as saying.

“Iran is one of the ten highly hazard-prone countries in the world. It ranks fourth in Asia.

The Iranian people’s vulnerability to natural disasters is 80 percent.”

As a result of these natural hazards, some 3,000 people are killed, 9,000 people are physically injured, and 1.5 million people are affected, he noted.

“Geographical location, topographical features of Iran, and high structural and non-structural vulnerability of the society strengthens natural hazards impacts leading to countless deaths and injuries and other health consequences,” Miadfar highlighted.

He added the rapid development of urbanization has caused many rural residents to live on the outskirts of big cities, places which do not have the necessary resistance against disasters.

Failing to strengthen resilience to natural hazards while developing cities, i.e. poor urban planning and lack of Iranian households' preparedness against disasters are the factors that intensify the damage caused by increasing natural hazards, particularly climate hazards.

Iran has the potential to deal with hazards

On September 10, 2022, Stefan Priesner, the United Nations Resident Coordinator for Iran, said Iran has the potential to broadly deal with natural disasters and the United Nations is willing to document these valuable experiences.

“In case of natural disasters, the United Nations is ready to provide services by forming a permanent working group with representatives of the UN, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the National Disaster Management Organization,” IRNA quoted Priesner as saying.

He made the remarks in a meeting with Mohammad-Hassan Nami, the head of the National Disaster Management Organization, suggesting that the two sides should hold meetings every three months for further coordination.

For his part, Nami said all nations have a sense of philanthropy and kindness, but they will face sanctions if they want to provide help. So, this issue should be resolved.

In June 2022, Priesner said the United Nations would use all its power and capacity to assist Iran in dealing with natural hazards by increasing operational performance and improving safety in specialized areas.

“Expressing the desirable capacities of Iran in dealing with natural hazards, he said that we will do everything to assist Iran. In this regard, we can increase operational performance and improve safety in the sector to enhance cooperation.”

The Iranian plateau, with its location between two vast expanses of water as well as the intersection of the Eurasian plateau and Saudi Arabia, has always been exposed to numerous natural hazards and disasters.

According to UN surveys, the main natural disasters listed for Iran are drought, floods, and earthquakes. Subsidence is also a phenomenon that has emerged as one of the consequences of drought along with the aforementioned three challenges.

Earthquake, as one of the main natural challenges, occasionally becomes an uninvited guest of Iranian homes. On the other hand, the existence of important rivers and water reservoirs in the country has also increased flood risk.

Land subsidence, a gradual settling or sudden sinking of the Earth's surface due to subsurface movement of earth materials is mainly caused by aquifer-system compaction, drainage, and decomposition of organic soils, underground mining, oil and gas extraction, hydro compaction, natural compaction, sinkholes, and thawing permafrost. Iran is greatly affected by the phenomena, as 29 provinces of the country are affected.

MT/MG