Iran records nearly 21k deaths caused by air pollution annually: Official

An Iranian health official says the country registers 20,800 fatalities caused by air pollution in 27 cities every year, a figure that accounts for 12.6 percent of the total death toll.

Abbas Shahsavani, a climate official with the Health Ministry, told Tasnim News Agency that 6,400 residents of Tehran annually lose their lives due to health issues caused by poor air quality.

He said the Iranian capital had a mere two days of clean air in the past year.

Among the health complexities caused by air pollution are Ischemic heart diseases, stroke, lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, said the official.

Shahsavani added that air pollution costs the country 8.2 billion dollars per year.

Residents of the capital and other major Iranian cities have witnessed several weeks of polluted air since the start of the cold season, with only short let-ups usually caused by downpours or wind blow.

Tehran’s air is among the most polluted in the world and school closures because of poor air quality are a regular occurrence.

The smog is mostly caused by heavy traffic as well as factory pollution and typically worsens during the cold season.

Many attribute a major part of the problem to a rise in the use of mazut as fuel in factories.

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