Iran faces heightened dust‑storm risk in Tehran and five provinces

Shina Ansari, head of Iran's Environmental Protection Organization, said the main obstacles to controlling dust storms are a shortage of financial resources and insufficient coordination among governmental agencies. She highlighted that Tehran, Alborz, Qazvin, Markazi and Fars provinces are especially vulnerable because low rainfall has dried wetlands, turning them into dust‑generation sites. Climate change, rising temperatures and reduced water inflow to wetlands exacerbate the problem.

Ansari urged that combating dust should become a national priority, requiring collaboration between the Environmental Protection Organization, the Natural Resources Organization, ministries of roads and urban development, energy, and the planning and budgeting agency. She also noted that western provinces such as West and East Azerbaijan, as well as Kerman and Hormozgan, are experiencing more favorable precipitation, which helps mitigate dust in those areas.