Iranian Interior minister due in Iraq during upcoming days

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Minister of Interior Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli is due to visit Iraq in coming days to review ways to settle an environmental crisis caused by dust storms for both Iran and Iraq , according to the deputy minister of interior.

Speaking to IRNA, Esmaeil Najjar, also the head of the Crisis Management Organization said the visit is aimed at giving a boost to bilateral cooperation and providinga good opportunity to discuss the dust storms problem.

All Iranian officials, from the Supreme Leader to the government authorities, are concerned about sufferings of the citizens affected by dust storms, Najjar said, adding that fighting dust storms is not possible in the short time.

It is more than two weeks that a wave of dust storms has hit Iranian southern and southwestern provinces.

The main source of dust storms in Iran are deserts in neighboring Arab countries, Iraq in particular. Analysts believe that the dry-up of lagoons and marshlands in Iraq and Iran due to recent drought in the region has contributed to dense dust stroms of these days.

Najjar said that the dust storms over the past two weeks have left no fatalities. However, he said that a number of citizens have been hospitalized due to choking dust./End/