The Director General of Iran’s Environmental Protection Agency for the Khuzestan Province, Davud Mirshekar, stated that dust storms that have occurred in recent years in the provinces of Khuzestan, Kermanshah, Ilam, Hormuzgan and South Khorasan have caused serious damage. According to Mirshekar, dust storms have caused human and animal deaths, while material damage in these provinces alone in 2018 was estimated at around 6 trillion tomans ($104 million).
Mirşekar stressed that dust pollution has negative effects on human health, vegetation, agriculture and food products, and noted that the harmful effects on bees in particular have reached serious levels. In one case, it is estimated that 80 percent of honeybees in Ilam province alone have disappeared, which means a huge social and economic loss for communities in the region.
The Iranian official stated that urgent measures should be taken to reduce and prevent dust particles, and drew attention to the importance of increasing green areas in the region. Many cities throughout Iran are faced with air pollution due to layers of dust carried by winds from the west.
