Zafarghandi made the comment at the National Conference of Clean Air attended by a number of other Iranian government officials.
He added that 8.1 million people die each year worldwide due to air pollution, making it the second leading cause of deadly disease burden, with hypertension being the first.
The minister noted that 700,000 children under five die annually due to air pollution in the world. Zafarghandi said during the last Persian year the average air quality in Iran was polluted for 247 days with Tehran lacking clean air for 353 days.
According to the minister, statistics show that 12.56% of natural deaths in that period were attributed to air pollution.
Zafarghandi cited to the installation of solar panels as a potential solution to the problem of air pollution. He said Iran has about 250 sunny days per year which can be of great assistance.
