Rouhani's Government Resolution to Address Environmental Crisis in Khuzestan Announced

In the midst of a severe environmental crisis in Khuzestan province, the First Vice President announced the government's resolution to allocate 30 billion tomans aimed at "stabilizing critical dust sources" in the short term to five ministries and organizations. The Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance, and Ministry of Agriculture, along with the Planning and Budget Organization and the Environmental Protection Organization, have been designated as responsible for implementing this program. According to a report on Tuesday, March 3, from Fars News Agency, in a letter from Eshaq Jahangiri, Deputy of Hassan Rouhani, emphasis was placed on executing the "short-term program to stabilize critical dust sources with domestic origins in Khuzestan province over an area of 30,000 hectares." Based on this announcement, the 30 billion tomans will be allocated to the Ministry of Agriculture as the responsible body for executing this plan. This ministry is required to submit performance reports on the allocated funds every three months to the Planning and Budget Organization, Environmental Protection Organization, and the Ministry of Interior. Following water and electricity outages in some areas of Khuzestan province, citizens of Ahvaz and other cities have gathered in front of the governorate building at least five times last week. In response to these protests, the Khuzestan police issued a statement on Friday prohibiting any gatherings in front of the Khuzestan governorate starting Saturday, February 30. Since February 23, the dust crisis has caused multiple water outages in cities of Khuzestan, and prior to that, on February 8, after a dust storm occurred in ten cities of Khuzestan, electricity, water, and internet services were cut off in Ahvaz, and offices and schools were closed. In reaction to the continuation of this issue, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, stated on Tuesday, March 2, that the recent events in Khuzestan "hurt the human heart" and considered addressing this situation a responsibility of the officials. Recently, alongside the dust crisis in Khuzestan, some regions of Iran have witnessed heavy snowfall and rain, resulting in significant damage. Masoumeh Ebtekar, head of the Environmental Protection Organization, also announced on the first of March the commencement of "ground operations related to planting saplings in 40,000 hectares of the super-critical area in Khuzestan." Mahmoud Hojjati, the Minister of Agriculture, also visited the dust source areas on his third consecutive trip to Khuzestan in the past week. Mr. Hojjati stated that "unfortunately, the situation created in nature has led to conditions that have caused problems for the people of this province." He also reported that sapling planting operations began last Thursday and that water necessary to support this vegetation cover has been provided. Habib Kashani, Vice President of the Budget and Planning Commission of Tehran City Council, also announced on Tuesday that 29 members of this council signed a petition to obligate the Tehran municipality to assist the people of Khuzestan. According to Mr. Kashani, the members of the Tehran City Council prepared a plan that obligates the municipality to present a bill regarding the resolution of infrastructure issues in Khuzestan concerning water, electricity, telephone, etc., for review by the council.