Air pollution claims up to 180 lives in Tehran each day: official

Air pollution in the Iranian capital Tehran claims lives of up to 180 people every day, a senior municipal official was quoted by state IRNA news agency as saying.

Recent days have seen high level of air pollution in Tehran, and that has, according to reports and statistics, claimed the lives of 150 to 180 people each day, Mehdi Chamran, chairman of Tehran City Council, said in a meeting.

His remarks came as Tehran's schools and kindergartens remained closed on Tuesday for the third consecutive day due to the bad air quality.

On Sunday, Tehran's air pollution committee decided to shut down some pollutant factories in Tehran province and stop selling licenses for cars to enter downtown.

Iran's government and parliament are working to solve the air pollution problem in Tehran by imposing restrictions on city traffic, and passing laws to urge cleaner fuel and more fuel-efficient vehicles.

Also, the Iranian authorities announced plans of decentralizing policies in the country in a move to slow down the accumulation of people and industries in the capital to a considerable degree. However, the plans were left unimplemented for unannounced reasons. Endit