Warning issued by Health Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran on severe effects of dust storms and fine particles on public health and spread of dangerous diseases
Reports from across the country suggest unprecedented spread of illnesses caused by dust storms and high concentration of dust particles in the air in large swathes of Iran that has threatened the health of millions of citizens.
NCRI – Acute respiratory infections and diseases, obstruction of the respiratory tract, middle ear infections, lung cancer, cardiovascular diseases, allergies and allergic reactions are among the complications of this dire situation. Infants, children, adolescents, the elderly, people with asthma, bronchitis, and heart disease, and pregnant women are particularly vulnerable to dust storms and high dust concentrations that have taken the lives of many of our compatriots. Other damages of this situation such as road accidents in the dusty weather leave more victims among the deprived people in these areas.
The clerical regime officials try to ostentatiously blame this disaster on territorial conditions and neighboring countries and to relate dust particles and their effects, including the victims and diseases, to foreign factors. Frequently, they name them Arabic dust particles or Iraqi dust particles. The reality is that the origin of the problem is nothing but religious fascism ruling Iran, which has no objective but to maintain its shameful hegemony and to plunder the property of the Iranian people. The fact is that the regime is responsible for this situation and its diseases and casualties for three specific reasons:
First: Over the past 36 years, the mullahs have done nothing to prevent the spread of deserts and to roll back desertification in spite of the fact that in a country like Iran, where there are many deserts inside the country and in neighboring countries, preventing the spread of deserts and reversing desertification is an imperative task of a nationalistic government.
Second: By taking over forests, farm lands and green areas and their destruction to build profitable institutions, as well as uncalculated building of dams aimed at filling the pockets of the mullahs, the clerical regime and its leaders have significantly spread the deserts. For instance in Khuzestan province, some projects of the oil industry have dried up the Karun River and some large lagoons and turned them into deserts with secondary consequences such as destruction of agriculture and pastures, livestock production, vegetation, and the spread of the deserts.
Third: The clerical regime has failed to provide the minimum health facilities to counter the effects of these storms and dust. The complications due to this situation rapidly lead to acute and serious diseases. This is part of the catastrophic state of medical services in the Iran under the rule of the mullahs which demands a separate study.
In these circumstances, the Health Minister of the clerical regime, in a propaganda act, went to Khuzestan’s governorship and announced: “All patients with respiratory problems due the dust phenomenon in Khuzestan Province that go to private, public, social services and oil company hospitals two weeks after this storm will be treated for free.” This hypocrisy is while this phenomenon is neither limited to the past two weeks nor to the Khuzestan Province.
This is a disaster that, thanks to the mullahs, has spread to large swathes of Iran. According to the deputy of the regime’s Environmental Protection Organization, “In 2004, only three provinces were affected by the phenomenon of dust particles, but now 23 provinces are affected by this phenomenon.” The situation has turned so critical that for the first time, the people of Khuzestan are facing this problem in the winter as well while this condition usually occurred in spring or summer.
The murderous mullahs have spent Iranian people’s vast resources and capital on nuclear proliferation, spread of terrorism and fundamentalism in the region and the world, or funneled them into their bank accounts in astronomical plundering. As long as this regime is in power, neither the human rights will be improved nor unemployment and inflation will be reduced, nor will the medical condition and environment improve. The only solution to all these agonies is the overthrow of the religious fascism and the establishment of democracy and popular sovereignty.
The people of Ahwaz formed protest gatherings several times last week to protest the clerical regime’s indifference to worsening air pollution in their city. In these gatherings, including the one in front of the city hall, people continued their protest in severe dust storm and chanted slogans against regime’s officials despite the threats by the suppressive forces. These days, the concentration of dust in Ahwaz is 70 times the allowed limit. Many other cities in Khuzestan Province were also shut down due to the severity of air pollution and dust storm. Meanwhile state news agencies have also reported a sharp increase of dust in Lorestan, Kermanshah, Ilam and Western Azerbaijan provinces.
Health Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
February 14, 2015
