Iran President calls for win-win policy on environment

“We cannot overcome the environmental crisis, unless we foster cooperation among neighboring nations as well as other countries,” President Rouhani said, addressing the International Conference on Combating Sand and Dust Storms (SDS) that kicked off in the Iranian capital on Monday.

“We are like a family in the region,” said President Rouhani, stressing that the regional countries should not distance themselves from each other.

Referring to the present circumstances in the region, President Rouhani called for an end to the regional conflicts.

“We should end flames of wars in the region,” he said, adding that the flames of war will lead to dire consequences affecting both the global politics as well as the nature.

He went on to reject the idea that countries could guarantee their interests by acting against the interests of other countries.

“We should stand by each other, and preserve our nations’ rights through respecting the others’ rights,” Rouhani said stressing the importance of not making threats against each other and jeopardizing interests, referring to Saudi Arabia and the United States.

Touching on the issue of SDS, the President said the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran sees it necessary to take due measures to continue fighting the dust problem.

To address the dust issue, Iran has embarked on various measures with the cooperation from two neighboring courtiers of Iraq and Afghanistan, Rouhani added. 

Iran has also started negotiating with Turkmenistan and it has called on all countries to rely on dialogue to agree on deals and joint plans that would benefit the entire region.

To address the issue, President Rouhani said, all countries should establish broad cooperation among themselves and the United Nations should also take a proportionate share.

He described dealing with the environmental issue as one of the priorities of the government.

The President further noted that 20 percent of particle pollution in Iran tends to have internal sources, while the remaining 80 percent are caused by external sources.

Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan are among the countries which cause particle pollution in Iran, Rouhani said.

Twenty-two dam construction projects underway in our neighboring country could cause destructive effects on Tigris and Euphrates, two main regional rivers, he said.

“We cannot be indifferent toward what damages our environment,” the President stressed.

According to IRNA, President Rouhani said that if the dam-construction activities are not stopped and the SDS phenomenon not addressed, the agriculture, urban development and the people’s livelihoods is going to be threatened.

“This is a human, international and regional responsibility,” the Iranian President said.

The International Conference on Combating Sand and Dust Storms (SDS): Challenges and Practical Solutions opened in Teheran on Monday and it is expected to last for three days.

Senior Iranian officials including the President, Foreign Minister and head of the Department of Environment as well as representatives from 34 world countries suffering more from the SDS have taken part in the environmental event.