BAGHDAD A pedestrian struggles to breathe as he walks along the side of a road through low visibility conditions due to a massive dust storm in Iraq's central city of Najaf on April 14, 2025. A sandstorm swept through Iraq , filling the air with choking dust that closed airports and put more than 3,700 people in hospital with breathing difficulties, the Health Ministry said on Tuesday. Visibility fell to less than one kilometer (barely half a mile) in central and southern cities as the storm