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TEHRAN - Head of Iran's Meteorological Organization Bahram Sanae'i took the occupying forces in Iraq responsible for the recent hike in the Arabian dust haze infiltrating Iran through western borders.

"One of the reasons for increasing the amount of dust in Iran is the presence of the occupying forces in Iraq which has destroyed the agriculture and has dried the tidal flats," Sanae'i told FNA on Saturday. 

He reiterated that the deployment of the U.S. forces in Iraq has hampered Iraqis' natural and everyday life and bombardment of different parts of the country by the US warplanes returned those parts of the earth which were flattened to their primary dusty shape. 

Sanae'i said that the U.S. forces in Iraq have also hindered the trend of sustainable development in the country. 

Cities in Iran, India, Pakistan and the capital of Mongolia rank among the worst on the planet for air pollution, while those in the U.S. and Canada are among the best, according to the first global survey by the World Health Organization. 

The southwest Iranian city of Ahwaz walked away with the unfortunate distinction of having the highest measured level of airborne particles smaller than 10 micrometers. 

The city, with a population of about 1.2m people, had the highest count of small airborne particles out of 1,100 urban areas around the world. 

These particles can cause asthma, heart disease and lung cancer, and the problem in Iran is made worse by dust storms.

Experts say that certain Iraqi deserts have been bombarded by the U.S. forces with depleted uranium (DU). DU has caused chemical and nuclear contamination of soil therefore all plants which grow in the contaminated areas contain highly dangerous substances, capable of causing multiple organ damages and cancers. So the U.S. should be obliged to decontaminate the affected land to prevent continuous health problems for the regional residents and global air pollution.    

(Source: FNA)