Iraqi and Iran sign agreement to confront dust storms
Shafaq News/ On Thursday, the Iraqi Environment Minister, Jassim Abdel Aziz Hammadi, and the Iranian Vice-President and Head of the Department of Environment Ali Salajeqeh signed an agreement to confront the massive dust storms.
Iran’s Department of Environment (DOE) hosted last week a conference of 11 regional countries to find solutions for major environmental problems, mainly sand and dust storms (SDSs).
In a joint press conference with the Iraqi official, Salajeqeh considered that the essential objective of the regional meeting is to “consolidate rapprochement among friendly and brotherly countries.”
Environment ministers of Iraq, Armenia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Syria, and Qatar, deputy environment ministers of Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, and delegates from Turkey and Uzbekistan participated in the conference.
Earlier this month, Ali Salajeqeh headed a technical-diplomatic delegation to Kuwait City and signed an agreement to confront the massive dust storms.
The two sides emphasized the importance of “strong regional cooperation against dust storms and rapid implementation of agreements.”
The agreement included joint seminars and conferences, exchanging views of technicians and specialists, sharing scientific achievements while managing a campaign, and sharing experiences of the international organizations.
Over the past months, many people in the Middle East have been living, working, and breathing in thick clouds of dust, including Iran, Iraq, and Kuwait.
In Iraq, hospitals have reported a surge in admissions, with thousands of patients coming in with severe respiratory illnesses, while schools and offices have had to close and flights have been grounded for days at a time.
