Economic Loss of Dust Storms in Iran West Provinces Case Study of Ilam, Khuzestan and Kermanshah

Dust storm has made massive loss in west and south provinces of Iran during 2000s. In this study, the damages or losses caused by dust storms will be evaluated in the economy of highly vulnerable regions including Ilam, Khuzestan and Kermanshah during 2006-2011 using parametric methods. The total economic losses of agricultural productions in these provinces has been estimated about 2,227 million dollars under the conditions of the first scenario and about 13,361 million dollars under the conditions of the fourth scenario. In 2009, each day off caused by dust storm in three provinces officially announced by local government has totally made 142 million dollars loss based on provincial value added and 66 million dollars loss based on average national value added. Following up the natural rights of citizens through regional and international organizations, implementing the crisis management, encouraging Iraq government to control the dust centers and supporting completely the economic actors, especially the farmers in provinces affected by the dust storms are recommended to solve the problem.