“Japan’s Ministry of Environment signed a MoU with Iran on information exchange and cooperation on waste disposal and other environmental issues,” Director General of Ahvaz Environment Protection office Ahmad Reza Lahijanzadeh said in the meeting with Japan’s Ministry of Environment.
Pointing to Japan’s experience in particle pollution forecasting and warning, the official said that the Japanese system, invented by its academic society, had already been installed in Mongolia and China.
Lahijanzadeh also declared that the system would be piloted for a year in Iran in two spots in Khuzestan and Sistan-Baluchestan provinces which are struggling with dust storms more than other regions.
“The system is capable of identifying and forecasting dust clouds up to 12 meters high,” he explained, saying that the instrument would also determine whether the dust’s origin is natural or industrial.
Meanwhile, Manager of the National Campaign Against Dust Storms Ziaeddin Shoaei described the dust storms during last winter in Khuzestan as unprecedented in the world, urging that the immediate need of people in the province was an on-time warning.
Deputy Manager of Japan’s Environment Ministry for international affairs Michio Kakegawa said that after the system’s utility in Khuzestan with high levels of dust was tested, it could be used in Iraq and Iran.
MoU on environmental cooperation between Iran and Japan was inked by the officials of the two countries on April 29.
Promotion of ecotourism, particularly in national parks and protected areas, electronic waste management, low-carbon economy and research and development on new technologies are among other fields of mutual cooperation between Iran and Japan.
