Sandstorm hits Iran, sends 95 to hospital

Ninety-five people were taken to hospital in Iran after a sand-and-dust storm in the country's southeast caused dozens to suffer breathing problems. 

Sixty-eight people were treated and released overnight while 27 remain hospitalised, according to the semi-official Mehr news agency.

The sandstorm hit the province of Sistan-Baluchestan on Monday, with wind speeds of up to 71 miles per hour. Mehr said the particulate matter concentration - the concentration of small solid and liquid particles that are potentially harmful - is 30 times above standard acceptable levels in the province.

Iran, like other countries in the region, suffer from sandstorms that occasionally affect many parts of the country, including the capital Tehran.

In April, a sandstorm struck Iran that caused right-wing Israelis on social media to say it was "divine intervention".

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Sistan-Baluchestan is a majority Sunni province and home to the Baluchi speaking ethnic minority. 

From 2005 to 2010, the militant Jundallah group - made up of Baluchi-speakers who are found on both sides of the Iran-Pakistan border - waged an insurgency in the province.

Violence in the area was largely curbed after its leader Abdulmalik Rigi was killed in 2010. 

Zabol, a city in Sistan-Baluchestan, was labelled by the World Health Organization in 2016 as the world's most polluted city. Experts say pollution exacerbates sand-and-dust storms. 

Agencies contributed to this report. 

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