Media outlets in Iran reported the return of air pollution to Tehran, writing that based on air quality indices, the capital’s air has entered an unhealthy condition for sensitive groups. At the same time, six cities in Khuzestan province have also been affected by this crisis.
According to a report by the Tehran Air Quality Control Company, the average air quality index on Friday, December 18, reached 116, indicating an orange status, meaning unhealthy for sensitive groups.
This comes as the average air quality index in Tehran over the past 24 hours was 83, which corresponds to a yellow, or acceptable, status.
Air Pollution in Late November Sent 170,000 People to Emergency in Iran
Since March 2024, Tehran has experienced only six days of clean air. In the current year, the capital has recorded 130 acceptable days, 113 days unhealthy for sensitive groups, 20 unhealthy days, two very unhealthy days, and two days classified as hazardous.
IRNA, the official news agency of the Iranian regime, wrote on December 19, referring to the renewed air pollution in Tehran: “Heart and lung patients, children, pregnant women, and the elderly should stay at home and avoid unnecessary travel.”
Air pollution in Iran, especially in recent years, has become one of the most serious environmental and public health crises, with major cities such as Tehran, Isfahan, Mashhad, and Ahvaz continuously facing unhealthy air.
The Iranian regime’s inability to manage this crisis, alongside policies such as burning mazut fuel at power plants, has played a direct role in intensifying air pollution and has placed the health of millions of citizens at serious risk.
Akbar Nouralizadeh, a faculty member at Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, warned on December 18 that air pollution, alongside tobacco use, is considered one of the main factors contributing to bladder cancer.
Continuation of air pollution in Khuzestan province
Data from the country’s Air Quality Monitoring Center show that as of nine a.m. on December 19, the air quality index in the cities of Khorramshahr reached 153 and in Mollasani reached 152 micrograms per cubic meter, figures that indicate red status and unhealthy conditions for all population groups.
The air quality index was also reported at 133 in Abadan, 108 in Shushtar, 119 in Karun, and 136 in Haftkel micrograms per cubic meter, all of which fall within the orange range.
The Young Journalists Club, a media outlet affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, wrote with reference to air pollution in some cities of Khuzestan that under such conditions, individuals with heart or lung diseases, the elderly, and children are advised to avoid heavy or prolonged outdoor activities.
At the same time as the intensification of the influenza wave and the increase in air pollution in Iran’s major cities in recent days, citizens have been facing a new wave of respiratory infections.
In August, Abbas Shahsouni, deputy head of the Air Quality and Climate Change Research Center at Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, said that in 2024 alone, more than 35,000 deaths attributed to air pollution were recorded in the country.
