Wars Imposed by Outsiders to Blame for Environmental Damages to Region: Iran’s FM
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The foreign minister of Iran attributed a series of environmental problems and the formation of origins of dust and sand storms across the region to the wars that extra-regional powers have imposed to fulfill their own interests.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and Armida Alisjahbana, the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations and the Executive Secretary of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), held a meeting in Tehran on Sunday.
Amirabdollahian appreciated ESCAP Executive Secretary for her participation and cooperation in organizing the international summit on dealing with dust storms in Tehran.
He emphasized the necessity of regional and international cooperation to eliminate dust production centers in the region and the world and to reduce their associated risks.
The Iranian foreign minister attributed a portion of the sources of dust and sand storm occurrences in the region to the wars imposed by trans-regional powers, which, solely pursue their own objectives without considering significant matters like the environment and have inflicted problems on the people and nature of the region.
He also regarded climate and weather changes as another factor contributing to the deterioration of dust and sand storms.
Amirabdollahian also expressed Iran’s readiness for close cooperation with ESCAP to tackle natural disasters and the centers of sand and dust storms in the region.
For her part, Alisjahbana conveyed the UN secretary-general’s greeting to the Iranian top diplomat.
She also underscored the importance of coordinated regional actions to combat the dust and sand storms and voiced ESCAP's readiness to support Iran in this regard.
The UN official further appreciated Iran for assisting the regional center for the management of disaster-related information affiliated with ESCAP (APDIM) and hosting its headquarters in Tehran.
She then commended the successful organization of the International Summit on Combating Dust and Sand Storms and considered the valuable presence and speech of the Iranian president at the event as an evidence for the high level of Iran’s attention to international and environmental issues.
