Wars imposed by extraregional powers source of dust storms in region: Iran’s foreign minister

Iran’s foreign minister says one of the main reasons behind sand and dust storms in West Asia is the wars imposed on the region by extraregional powers.

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian made the remark in a Sunday meeting with Alis Jabana, deputy secretary general of the United Nations and the executive secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, ESCAP.

The meeting was held on the sidelines of the International Conference on Combating Sand and Dust Storms, which was held in the Iranian capital city of Tehran on September 9-10.

Mentioning the wars imposed on the region by extraregional powers as a major source of sand and dust storms, Amir-Abdollahian said those powers “caused problems for the regional people and nature just to achieve their goals and with no care for such important issues as the environment.”

Iran’s top diplomat described climate change as another reason for the increasing frequency of sand and dust storms in the West Asia region.

He added that Iran is ready to boost cooperation with ESCAP to reduce the impact of natural disasters and the frequency of sand and dust storms in the region.

Jabana, for her part, highlighted the importance of coordinated regional efforts to fight such storms, while declaring ESCAP’s readiness to support Iran in this regard.