Leader Urges Decisive Action to Address ‘Heartrending’ Problems of Khuzestan
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei called on Iranian officials to devise plans and mobilize efforts to find a decisive solution to the problems that have afflicted the southwestern province of Khuzestan, including flooding, dust pollution and blackouts.
In remarks on Monday morning at the beginning of a religious class in Tehran, Ayatollah Khamenei described the problems caused by flooding and dust pollution in the southern parts of the country as “heartrending”, saying the officials are duty bound to formulate plans, join hands and make every effort to address those problems and find “a decisive remedy” for the difficult situation.
Describing flood as a “great disaster”, Imam Khamenei said the other issues in the province of Khuzestan, including blackouts or disruption to running water and transportation in cold weather, are also major and heartrending problems.
“The officials are duty bound to address these problems; and if somebody cares about the people, they could not be indifferent to Khuzestan’s hardships; and it is a certain, immediate and permanent duty of the governments to care about people,” the Leader underscored.
As regards the problem of dust pollution that has gripped the southern provinces for years, Ayatollah Khamenei called on the officials to stop putting the blame on the previous administrations, saying inaction at the present time will make the posterity make the same judgement about the current officials.
While the province of Khuzestan has been facing environmental problems such as dust pollution, and has suffered blackouts and disruption to running water in recent weeks, President Hassan Rouhani assured residents of the energy-rich province in an extraordinary cabinet session on Saturday that the administration has prioritized plans to settle its environmental problems.
Iranians in the western and southwestern provinces that border Iraq are facing a growing trend in the influx of fine particles generated by drought-hit marshlands in neighboring countries.
The disruptive dust storms push pollution in those border areas to alarming levels, raising health concerns.
The particles, carried by winds, can penetrate the lungs and enter the bloodstream, causing serious diseases such as lung cancer, asthma and heart problems.
