With the continued inability of Iran’s regime to control pollution sources, air pollution has kept many Iranian cities in a state of crisis.
Mohammad-Esmaeil Tavakoli, the head of Tehran’s emergency services, told the state-run ISNA news agency on November 30: “Of the 57,000 calls over the past eight days, 31% were related to respiratory and cardiac problems caused by air pollution. This means every three minutes one person has called 115 because of Tehran’s toxic air. In November, 22% of the 93,000 emergency missions were for the same reason. Iran’s regime still avoids closing schools and factories because it will not halt the production of even dirtier petrochemical gasoline. In the past eight days, 357 people have lost their lives due to complications from air pollution.”
30% Of Emergency Cases in Iran Caused by Air Pollution; Schools Closed In 14 Provinces
A shortage of four hundred emergency bases and five hundred ambulances
Tavakoli stated plainly: “Tehran is short four hundred emergency bases and five hundred ambulances. When one ambulance is stationed in Vanak Square, seven million people fall out of the service radius. Iran’s regime has not had the money to purchase ambulances for years, but it doubles the budget for building intercontinental ballistic missiles every year.”
On Monday, December 1, Tehran’s air quality was again in the red zone for the tenth consecutive day, and two-thirds of government offices in the capital were rendered inactive.
According to reports, from March 21 to November 25, Tehran experienced six clean days, 123 acceptable days, 106 unhealthy days for sensitive groups, 16 unhealthy days, two very unhealthy days, and two hazardous days.
Sadegh Hassanvand, head of the Air Pollution Research Center at the University of Tehran, told the state-run outlet Eghtesad120 that the power plants in Alborz and Qazvin provinces use fuels that have deadly effects on public health.
He added: “The sulfur standard for power-plant fuel is fifty, but the power plants around Tehran burn horrifying fuels with sulfur levels of thirty thousand, which are extremely harmful to public health.”
Despite the persistence of this crisis, officials of Iran’s regime have still not introduced or implemented any effective or lasting solutions to reduce air pollution in the capital or other major cities, continuing instead to rely on temporary closures and short-term decisions.
At the same time, the director-general of crisis management in Hormozgan Province announced that on Wednesday, December 3, government offices were closed due to rising cases of influenza.
In Kurdistan Province, the spread of influenza also led to the closure of schools and universities on December 3.
