Sandstorm sweeps several provinces across Iran
A sandstorm has severely impacted several western and southwestern Iranian provinces, reducing air quality and leading to the closure of schools, universities and public offices as well as the suspension of incoming and outgoing flights.
The air quality levels saw an alarming drop in many cities in the provinces.
The sandstorm emanating from the neighboring Iraq and Saudi Arabia hit the provinces of Khuzestan, Ilam, Kermanshah, Bushehr, Lorestan, Hormozgan and Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad.
The sandstorm blanketed the provinces in an orange cloud as shown in footage and images shared by the Iranian news agencies and reduced visibility in the areas.
People in the cities wore face masks to protect themselves from the dust.
The authorities were forced to shut down schools, universities and public offices and suspend flights in the southern province of Bushehr.
The authorities have called on people, especially those with cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, to avoid unnecessary outdoor activities due to the significant decrease in air quality.
Drivers were forced to turn on their cars’ lights in the daytime as the sand storm reduced visibility in the Qeshm island in the southern province of Hormozgan.
In Khuzestan Province, air pollution in many cities reached dangerous levels, schools and public offices were closed, flights were called off.
Hundreds of people were also taken to medical centers with respiratory and cardiac symptoms.
In the neighboring Iraq, a severe sandstorm also swept across the center and south of the Arab country, turning the sky a strange orange, reducing visibility in some places to less than a half mile and sending several thousand people to emergency rooms with respiratory problems.
As a result of its hot and arid climate, the West Asia region has always been battered by dust and sandstorms, but they have become relatively more frequent and intense in recent years. Most sandstorms hitting Iran originate from the neighboring countries such as Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, and Syria.