(Iran's Environment News Agency) - Iranian residents in the western and south-western provinces that border Iraq are facing a growing trend in the influx of fine particles, which are generated by drought-hit marshlands in neighbouring countries.

Vice President and Head of Department of Environment Masssoumeh Ebtekar said, "The dust that has been blanketing Iran’s western and south-western provinces in recent days is coming from neighbouring countries."

According to online maps and offical information, the dust particles that have blanketed vast areas of western and southern Iran, including Ilam, Kermanshah and Khuzestan provinces, are coming from Iraq.

Ebtekar added that Iraq and Syria have always been sources of dust storms and this is not a new phenomenon, though the government has been trying to combat it.

Iran remains one of the countries that are affected by sand and dust storms occurring from all the four corners of the country.

Dust storms damage crops and remove the fertile soil, which reduces agricultural productivity. Many of our major cities, especially in South West of Iran experience 10-15 days a year of adverse storms.

Ebtekar said, "In recent years, due to consecutive droughts, rising temperatures and global warming, as well as war and conflicts in these areas, dust storms have multiplied. The government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has made it a national issue, established a policy on the issue, created a national council to deal with the matter, and has a strategy to restore the existing forests."

Vice Presiodent Ebtekar said this problem can be resolved through various measures like soil stabilization and planting trees once conflicts in Iraq and Syria are over.

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by Alireza Ghamkhar, Translate Fatemeh Ghamkhar