Killer Smog Tests Top Iran Woman as Pollution Sparks Action
This article is for subscribers only.
The snowy peaks of the Alborz Mountains visible through Iranian Vice-President Masoumeh Ebtekar’s Tehran office window may be evidence that the city is finally serious about tackling its chronic air pollution.
The capital’s factories and five million vehicles, prevented from burning imported cleaner fuels by global sanctions, turn the air in colder months into a suffocating smog that shuts schools and offices. Officials blame the toxins for the premature deaths of 4,000 residents a year. Many more among Tehran’s 12 million people choke behind surgical masks, as roadside pollution readings ram home the health threat.