Top Environmental Official in Iraq for Talks on Sandstorms

Vice President and head of Department of Environment Ali Salajegheh arrived in Baghdad on Saturday to hold talks with Iraqi officials on the unprecedented wave of sandstorms which has struck the region over the past few months. 
“One of the main sources of dust that affects our country is Iraq,” Salajegheh was quoted as saying by IRNA. 
He pointed to prior joint agreements between the two neighboring nations on the issue and explained that the current crisis was decades in the making, “but we’ll try to solve this problem in an adequate period of time.”
The official and his delegation were welcomed by Iraqi Health Minister Jassim Al Falahi on arrival. 
The team, consisting of members from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Agriculture Jihad and the Ministry of Road and Urban Development, were to stay in Baghdad for two days to discuss sandstorms and ways to tackle them. 
They were scheduled to meet with ministers of foreign affairs, agriculture, environment as well as Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi on Sunday. 
Since the start of March, orange-tinted skies laden with dust have become a regular occurrence in the region, sending sensitive groups to emergency rooms, disrupting flights and closing schools, universities and offices. 

Collective Action 

Noting that sandstorms have engulfed a huge swathe of the region, Salajegheh said that his trip was aimed at coordinating collective action and an effective response to mitigate the crisis.
He said that Iran and Iraq could share experience on desert greening and other practices that can prevent the formation of new sources of particles in arid lands. 
President Ebrahim Raisi has tasked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Environment to start talks with regional nations to coordinate joint efforts. 
Iraq, Kuwait, Syria, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have been among the countries hit by frequent and intense sandstorms this spring. 
Iraq has been particularly struck by sandstorms on a weekly basis for the past few months, a byproduct of mismanagement of land and water that increases desertification and soil erosion. 
In Iran, the dust storms have especially hit western provinces where thousands of people have visited emergency rooms complaining of respiratory ailments. 
According to data gathered by the World Health Organization, air pollution causes at least seven million premature deaths in the world every year. Climate change could further exacerbate the situation and bring about even more intense sandstorms. 
Planting trees and increasing water flow rates in the Middle East are among the measures than can be taken to tackle the ongoing crisis.