TEHRAN // All schools and kindergartens in the Iranian capital were closed for two days from Sunday, as pollution levels reached dangerous levels.
A government committee had ordered the schools’ closure because of the “polluted and unhealthy” weather, Iranian state television said on Saturday. The government has also closed schools in the large cities of Isfahan and Arak.
The skies over Iran’s capital, Tehran, are among the most polluted in the world, and health experts say many Iranians suffer serious health problems as a result.
Air quality in Iran’s capital was the worst for at least nine months this week, media said, and airborne particles from car emissions were at “seven times the standard level”.
Outdated vehicles and inconsistent enforcement of emissions regulations are the main drivers of pollution in Iranian cities, which officials have blamed for thousands of deaths from respiratory illnesses.
“The most important sources of air pollutants in Tehran are motorcycles and cars whose catalytic converter has been removed,” health official Khosro Sadegh-Niat was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA.
Traffic will be limited in the city centre and some factories will be closed.
The official IRNA news agency said that schools will also shut in Alborz province, west of Tehran.
Authorities have asked state employers to grant mothers time off to look after children who will be unable to go to school and urged the elderly, children and sick people to avoid going outdoors.
Emergency services have also been mobilised.
Tehran, a dense city of at least 12 million inhabitants, suffers the most as the snow-capped Alborz mountains form a basin that shields its air from cleansing winds. Pollution is more severe in winter as cold air prevents the smog from rising.
Three years ago, officials blamed smog for more than 4,000 deaths across the country. Since then, president Hassan Rouhani’s government has pledged to tackle pollution and introduced measures such as converting vehicles to cleaner fuel.
Last month, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued a set of environmental policy directives and called for the government to support investments in clean energy.
Iran has twice closed schools and government offices because of air pollution, most recently in 2010.
* Agencies
