Schools closed down in Iran capital as air pollution increases

 Junior schools in the Iranian capital Tehran were once again shut down on Wednesday due to extreme weather pollution.

Nurseries and primary schools in all of Tehran Province, with the exception of schools in Pardis, Damavand and Firouzkouh, were closed on Wednesday.

The average Air Quality Index in Tehran on Wednesday rose to 159, according to Mohammad Rastgari, a senior official of the regime’s environmental agency in the capital, where an estimated 14 million people live. One area in northeastern Tehran peaked at 238.

On Tuesday the AQI in Tehran stood at 157, according to Mohammad-Hadi Heidarzadeh who heads the regime's environmental agency in the capital. That is well above the World Health Organization's advised level of between zero and 50.

Sand and cement factories around the capital have been banned from operating until Friday, he said. Outdoor sport activities, including professional football league matches, have also been banned.

A spokesperson for the regime's air quality control organization in Tehran announced on Tuesday that air quality in the capital was now in the Red Alert zone, meaning that pollution levels were harmful to even healthy people in society.

On Saturday, Mohammadreza Pir-Cheraghali, a fuel expert of the Iranian regime, said: “The main cause of air pollution in Iran’s mega cities is the diesel fuel produced domestically.”

“The reason for the air pollution, especially in winter, is the heavy hydrocarbons produced in oil refineries and petrochemical complexes that reach consumers as diesel fuel,” he said.

There have been 18 straight days of dangerously polluted air in Tehran.