Air pollution caused an estimated 6,000 deaths in Tehran last year, while the city has recorded just six clean-air days since the start of the current Iranian year in March, Tehran’s Air Quality Control Company said on Friday.
“From late March to early August, Tehran had only six clean-air days,” the agency said. Other days ranged from moderate to very unhealthy, with at least three classified as hazardous.
The report comes as concerns grow over the government’s energy strategy and its environmental impact. In recent weeks, Iranian officials have confirmed that fuel oil, which is one of the most polluting fuels available, is once again being widely used to generate electricity amid power shortages.
“All power plants across the country used fuel oil at full capacity last year,” Saeed Tavakoli, managing director of the National Iranian Gas Company, said this week. He said the practice continued despite public claims that the administration prioritized environmental protection.
Tejarat News, an economic daily, criticized the government for quietly resuming the use of mazut, a low-grade fuel, after ordering a temporary halt in several cities last winter. “Fuel oil burning is no longer an emergency fix. It has become a systemic policy reflecting the collapse of energy planning,” it wrote in an editorial this week.
Pollution tied to tens of thousands of deaths nationwide
In May, Health Minister Mohammad Reza Zafarghandi said Iran sees an estimated 50,000 deaths annually linked to air pollution. “Some countries have solved this issue, but we still have a long way to go,” he said.
Experts say the crisis is worsened by fragmented authority and limited enforcement. Though 23 government bodies have mandates to reduce pollution, analysts say most lack the power or resources to implement meaningful change.
“Laws stay on paper, and there is neither enough funding nor executive power to carry them out,” Mohammadreza Tavakkolian, an urban planning expert, told state media on Friday.
Calls to ban old vehicles, invest in cleaner energy, and empower a central environmental authority have so far gone unanswered. Critics warn that without systemic change, Tehran and other major cities will continue to suffer both in air quality and human lives.
