Huge dust storm sweeps into Iran, affecting millions

Tehran - Iranian authorities ordered schools and offices to close in seven western provinces on May 6 as a dust storm swept in from neighbouring Iraq, with around 13 million people told to stay indoors.

Khuzestan, Kermanshah, Ilam and Kurdistan provinces were all affected, and state television cited local officials as blaming the closures on high levels of accumulated dust.

Government and private offices also shut in several provinces, including Kermanshah and Ilam, as well as Khuzestan in the south-west.

Zanjan in the north-east and Bushehr in the south were also hit.

Bushehr, nearly 1,100km south of Tehran, was given an air quality index reading of 108 on May 6, rated “poor for sensitive groups”.

That figure is more than four times higher than the concentration of air microparticles deemed acceptable by the World Health Organisation.

Iran’s meteorological authorities said the conditions were caused by “the movement of a large mass of dust from Iraq towards western Iran”.

State television reported low visibility in some areas and urged people to remain inside and wear face masks if they had to go out.

In April, a similar dust storm in Iraq grounded flights and sent thousands of people to hospital with breathing problems.

On May 5, Iran’s IRNA state news agency said more than 240 people in Khuzestan province had been treated for respiratory issues because of the dust.

A spokesperson for the emergency services also told Tasnim news agency on May 6 that nine people had died as a result of storms in Iran over the past seven days, ending on May 5.

“Four of the deaths were caused by strong winds and falling objects, and five were caused by lightning strikes,” it added. AFP