Dust Storm in Ahvaz 46 Times Above Permissible Limit; Flights Disrupted

According to environmental officials in Khuzestan province, the concentration of dust in the air of Ahvaz has reached 46 times the permissible limit, leading to the cancellation of some flights at the city's airport. Shahryar Asgari, the public relations manager of the Khuzestan Environmental Protection Agency, stated in an interview with IRNA: "At 10 PM on Thursday, August 15, a dust phenomenon occurred in several cities of the province, causing the air pollution level in Ahvaz to reach 46 times the standard limit." The severe air pollution effects in Ahvaz were noted in the winter of 2014. Additionally, the director general of Khuzestan airports mentioned in an interview with IRNA that "the dust storm that began on Thursday evening and is still ongoing has disrupted flights at Ahvaz airport." Mohammad Saeed Sharafi noted that "two flights from the oil and Caspian airlines to Tehran were canceled, and several flights are delayed," adding that "approximately 600 passengers on the Tehran-Ahvaz route and vice versa missed their trips due to the cancellation of these two flights." According to the director general of Khuzestan airports, dozens of passengers were waiting at Ahvaz airport on Thursday night for their flights to Tehran, Isfahan, Kish, and Mashhad. Meanwhile, the director of Khuzestan meteorology told IRNA that "due to the dust phenomenon, horizontal visibility in Ahvaz has decreased to 700 meters." Kourosh Bahadari attributed this phenomenon to "the wind and the activation of dust sources" between Ramshir and Ramhormoz. He stated that currently, there is no device to predict the intensity of this phenomenon in the area, and dust reaches Ahvaz in less than half an hour, catching officials off guard. The new source of dust formation around Ahvaz in the winter of 2014 caused air pollution in the city to reach 70 times the permissible limit several times. Last year, severe dust storms in Khuzestan province led to the closure of schools and offices in several cities of the province. In this regard, Naser Soudani, the representative of Ahvaz in parliament, stated that "air pollution in Khuzestan province has been 66 to 70 times above standards and has surpassed the crisis threshold." This parliament member also urged the Iranian president to quickly establish a crisis headquarters to address the air quality situation in Khuzestan. Additionally, some citizens of Ahvaz protested in front of the Khuzestan governorate in late February last year against what they called "the negligence of officials regarding the dust issue," demanding more serious and prompt action from provincial and national authorities to address and combat this phenomenon.