Iran’s Meteorological Organization has pointed to the occupying forces in Iraq as the cause of the rise in Arabian dust haze floating into Iran and the high pollution in Iran’s Western cities.
The Fars News Agency published a report in connection with the recent World Health Organization announcement about air pollution in world cities, blaming the U.S. for the spike in air pollution in the western Iranian cities of Ahvaz and Sanandaj. They were among the most polluted cities listed in the WHO report. Ahvaz was at the top of the WHO list for the highest level of airborne particle smaller that 10 micrometres.
Bahram Sanai, the head of Iran’s Meteorological Organization, told Fars News Agency: “One of the reasons for the increasing amount of dust in Iran is the presence of the occupying forces in Iraq, which has destroyed the agriculture and dried the tidal flats.”
He added that the presence of U.S. forces in Iraq has restrained natural everyday life there, and the U.S. bombardment of various parts of the country has flattened the earth into dust.
Sanai also blamed U.S. forces in Iraq for hampering the trend toward sustainable growth in the country.
The problem of dust storms in Iranian cities has spread beyond southwestern areas to plague 20 provinces and has even reached Tehran, once pushing the capital to the verge of a complete shutdown.
