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Iranian authorities said on Monday that Iraq was to blame for a sandstorm that had cut off power and water supply in an oil-rich province and led to street protests against local officials.

According to the AP which quotes state TV, Irans vice-president in charge of environmental affairs, Masoumeh Ebtekar, called upon Iraq to implement an agreement to prevent dust storms by spreading mulch over thousands of square miles of desert.

Earlier this month, a sandstorm led to power outages and temporarily cut off water supply in much of the southwestern Iranian province of Khuzestan bordering Iraq, reducing oil production by 700,000 bpd.

Following the sandstorm and power supply cuts, residents of the oil-rich Iranian city of Ahvaz with a majority Arab population took to the streets last week to protest against continuous power failures, air pollution, and government mismanagement.

The city of Ahvaz is the capital of the wealthy Khuzestan province, rich in oil and natural gas and located in southwest Iran close to the Iraqi border. Ahvaz has often topped the unfortunate ranking of the worlds most polluted cities.

Referring to the protests, local police have issued a statement that people refrain from illegal gatherings and warned them they would be confronted if they continued those gatherings, according to the New York Times.

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Iran hints that the dust storms originate in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria, and has urged their authorities to address the problem.

According to PressTV, the Iranian state broadcasters English-language outlet, Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called upon Iranian officials on Monday to immediately address the problems that the residents of the Khuzestan province are facing. Most recently, the Khuzestan province has been afflicted by torrential rains and the province had already been reeling from sandstorms, which are said to originate in Iraq and Saudi Arabia, Press TV said.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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Iran Blames Iraq For Dust Storm That Sparked Protests In Oil Province - OilPrice.com

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Feb. 21, 2017 U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

Officials reported details of the latest strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.

Strikes in Syria

Coalition military forces conducted 17 strikes consisting of 28 engagements in Syria:

-- Near Bab, three strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units, destroyed four ISIS-held buildings and damaged an ISIS-held building.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, four strikes destroyed six oil wellheads.

-- Near Palmyra, three strikes destroyed 26 oil tanker trucks.

-- Near Raqqa, seven strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units; destroyed three fighting positions, a vehicle bomb, a garage, an improvised explosive device and a weapons facility; and damaged a bridge.

Strikes in Iraq

Coalition military forces conducted nine strikes consisting of 61 engagements in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraqs government:

-- Near Beiji, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and an ISIS staging area and destroyed a weapons cache, a vehicle bomb and a vehicle bomb facility.

-- Near Kisik, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed two ISIS-held buildings, a vehicle bomb, a vehicle, a tactical vehicle and an unmanned aircraft.

-- Near Mosul, six strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units; destroyed 11 mortar systems, three ISIS headquarters, three ISIS-held buildings, two anti-air artillery systems, two tactical vehicles, two supply caches, a front-end loader, a fighting position, a weapons facility, a vehicle bomb and an improvised explosive device; damaged nine supply routes; and suppressed 14 mortar teams and an ISIS tactical unit.

-- Near Tal Afar, a strike destroyed a vehicle bomb facility.

Part of Operation Inherent Resolve

These strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to destroy ISIS in Iraq and Syria. The destruction of ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria also further limits the group's ability to project terror and conduct external operations throughout the region and the rest of the world, task force officials said.

The list above contains all strikes conducted by fighter, attack, bomber, rotary-wing or remotely piloted aircraft; rocket-propelled artillery; and some ground-based tactical artillery when fired on planned targets, officials noted.

Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike, they added. A strike, as defined by the coalition, refers to one or more kinetic engagements that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single or cumulative effect. For example, task force officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIS vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against a group of ISIS-held buildings and weapon systems in a compound, having the cumulative effect of making that facility harder or impossible to use. Strike assessments are based on initial reports and may be refined, officials said.

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Officials Provide Details of Latest Strikes in Syria, Iraq - Department of Defense

OTTAWA, Canada Canada will resettle 1,200 Yazidi refugees who faced persecution by the Islamic State group, the immigration minister said Tuesday.

Some 400 have already been airlifted to this country.

Our operation is under way and individual survivors of Daesh have been arriving in Canada for resettlement in the last number of months and this began on October 25, 2016, said Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen, using an Arabic name for the Islamic State.

Our government will resettle approximately 1,200 highly vulnerable survivors of Daesh and their family members in Canada, he added.

The initiative follows Parliaments resolution last fall to take in Yazidis facing genocide in Iraq at the hands of the Islamic extremist IS group.

The original aim was to bring over women and girls at risk, but Hussen told a news conference that Ottawa had learned that Daesh has also deliberately targeted boys and as such we are helping to resettle all child survivors of Daesh.

Hussen said the migrants are arriving on commercial flights at a controlled pace to avoid overwhelming Canadas refugee system.

The operation is expected to cost Can$28 million (US$21 million).

Since coming to power in late 2015, Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus government has resettled 40,000 Syrian refugees.

The Yazidis taken in have been subjected to comprehensive security checks and medical examinations, Hussen said.

Yazidis are a Kurdish-speaking minority with a pre-Islamic religion thought partly to have its origin in the Zoroastrianism of ancient Persia. They are neither Arab nor Muslim and IS considers them polytheistic heretics.

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Canada to welcome 1200 Yazidi refugees from Iraq - The Times of Israel

New York Times

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Bodies of 74 Migrants Wash Up on Libyan Coast - New York Times

New York Times

Libya, Israel, Stockholm: Your Wednesday Briefing - The New York ... New York Times ... The Trump administration detailed plans to deport millions of immigrants, releasing expansive new rules that allow rapid deportations and the expulsion of ... and more »

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Libya, Israel, Stockholm: Your Wednesday Briefing - The New York ... - New York Times