Iran says consulting with Saudi Arabia over air pollution

Ali Salajegheh, head of the Iranian Department of Environment, made the remarks on Monday in a conference dubbed “Environment, regional diplomacy, climate change management, water and dust particles control”, which was held at his organization compound in Tehran with the participation of neighboring countries ambassadors.

He stated, “According to the maps we have prepared, 270 million hectares of areas in Iran’s neighboring countries are origins of dust particles, one third of which, 90 million hectares, are located in Saudi Arabia, followed by 24 million hectares in Iraq and 4 million hectares in Syria.”

Salajegheh added that “God willing, necessary ground will be laid for international cooperation in this regard.”

The Iranian official further expressed hope that Turkey, whose ambassador was in attendance in the event, will give the share of water to the affected neighboring countries to contribute to solving the problem of dust storms.

In response to a question about Saudi Arabia’s cooperation in dealing with tiny dust particles, he explained, “Consultations are underway through third countries so that Saudi Arabia to cooperate.”

He noted that the regional countries have shown interests in cooperation to tackle the problem.