Sandstorm chocks Xinjiang

A blinding sandstorm swept across parts of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in northwest China from Friday to Saturday, disrupting traffic and affecting people's daily lives and prompting local authorities to activate emergency response.

In Zepu County of Kashgar Prefecture, visibility dropped to less than 1,000 meters due to the intense dust and sand.

In Hotan Prefecture, visibility was even worse, dropping below 550 meters in some areas. The local authorities responded quickly to the extreme weather by activating an emergency response plan.

Traffic police were deployed at major intersections of roads to direct traffic and ensure the safety of local residents.

The sandstorm slightly let up in Hotan to floating dust after Saturday, with the weather expected to continue through Monday.

Ali Abdollahi, chief commander of Iran's main military command Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, had met the country's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, presenting the leader with a report of the country's armed forces' readiness, the official news agency IRNA reported on Sunday.

During the meeting, Abdollahi said they are well-prepared to counter the "hostile actions" of the United States and Israel, the report said, without specifying the date of the session.

If the United States and Israel perpetrate any act of aggression against Iran, the Iranian armed forces will respond to them "swiftly, intensely, and powerfully," Abdollahi said.

Khamenei praised the country's "brave and powerful" armed forces and outlined new measures to continue the fight against the enemies.

Iran's Assembly of Experts in early March announced the appointment of Mojtaba Khamenei as the country's new supreme leader. His appointment came after Ali Khamenei, his father and Iran's former supreme leader, was assassinated in a U.S.-Israeli attack in Tehran on Feb. 28 Also on Sunday, Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said that 'the Iranian nation will never bow down to the enemy, and if there is talk of dialogue or negotiation, it does not mean surrender or retreat," according to a statement published on his office's website.