The air pollution in the metropolitan areas of Tehran and Karaj has once again reached levels deemed “unhealthy for all groups,” and an official from the Ministry of Health has warned about the potential transition to an “extremely unhealthy” condition.
According to a Ministry of Health official, the air in Tehran is nearing “extremely unhealthy” levels, with air quality indices exceeding 150 at more than 90% of monitoring stations in the city.
By official definition, an “extremely unhealthy” status poses serious health risks to individuals of all ages and physical conditions.
Abbas Shahsavani, the head of the Air Health and Climate Change Group at the Ministry of Health, issued a warning about Tehran’s air pollution on Saturday, December 7, describing the situation as “critical.”
This health official also called for the establishment of an emergency task force, citing forecasts of stagnant weather until Monday and rising pollutant concentrations. He noted that monitoring stations in districts 19 and 20 are approaching “extremely unhealthy” conditions.
Experts link the spread of certain diseases and a significant portion of mortality rates in major cities to air pollution.
On November 23, the head of the Air Pollution Research Center at Tehran University of Medical Sciences reported approximately 50,000 annual deaths related to air pollution, stating that about 12% of all deaths in Iran are linked to pollution-related illnesses.
The use of mazut (a heavy fuel oil) in power plants, the low quality of domestic vehicles, and extensive shortcomings in the public transportation network are cited as major contributors to the country’s air pollution crisis, which intensifies annually with the onset of colder weather.
Following the worsening air pollution in major cities, elementary schools in Tehran and Alborz provinces switched to remote learning on December 7 and 8. Additionally, kindergartens, preschools, and special education schools were closed.
According to the Air Pollution Emergency Task Force, truck traffic in the capital was also banned for 48 hours.
