Call for Action on Environmental Problems

EghtesadOnline: Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has called on the government to address the environmental problems prompted by natural disasters that have disrupted daily life in swaths of southern and western Iran.

News ID: ۷۷۴۱۰۱

21 February 2017

Residents in those parts of the country are struggling with the aftermath of floods, triggered by recent heavy downpours, and dust storms that have been raging sporadically for a few years now.

"Such incidents are truly heartrending. The authorities are duty-bound to act to completely solve these problems," Ayatollah Khamenei was quoted as saying by his official website on Monday.

"A flood is a great calamity that inflicts huge losses on the people and their families, so it is a responsibility to provide aid to the flood-stricken."

According to Financial Tribune, the Leader noted that no responsible official with social conscience can remain indifferent to the plight of their compatriots.

Last week, torrential rain triggered flooding across the south, from Khuzestan Province near the Iraqi border to Sistan-Baluchestan Province on the border with Pakistan, Press TV reported.

Khuzestan had already been reeling from sandstorms, which are said to originate in Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

The recent downpours have washed filaments of dust and sand into power transmission equipment, leading to long outages and affecting water supplies, which has disrupted normal life in Ahvaz, the provincial capital, and other cities in the province.

On Saturday, President Hassan Rouhani attended an emergency session of the Crisis Management Center in Tehran, where he tasked his deputy Es'haq Jahangiri, Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani-Fazli and Khuzestan Governor Gholamreza Shariati with resolving the crisis at the earliest.

Rouhani also expressed sympathy with those affected and assured local people that the government is determined to address the root cause of the problems and deal with environmental issues.