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TEHRAN – Iran has signed a memorandum of understanding with Iraq based on which Iran has undertaken to implement projects to contain dust storm in 15 provinces inside Iraq.

The Iraqi government has agreed to allocate one billion dollar for the purpose within a five-year period, Dr. Ali Salajeghe, head of the Forests, Range & Watershed Management Organization (FRWO), told a press conference in Tehran on Tuesday.

The spewing of dust from Iraq’s deserts over the last few years has caused a headache for Iran and some other regional countries. Satellite images show certain locations in Iraq are mostly responsible for the ecological problem.

The winds bring dust from Iraq to Iran. At first the dust caused disruption in southern and western provinces of Iran; however, now dust storms reach to large parts of the country. So far dust storms have caused a closure of schools and state offices in some cities including Tehran.

The southern province of Khuzestan has so far seen 158 dusty days