Planes to Spray Water Over Suffocating Tehran

Iran's Environment Protection Organization (IEPO) will start spraying water on Tehran, the suffocating capital of Iran, to dilute the city’s air pollution that has reached alarming and dangerous levels in recent days. The worsening situation forced the closure of offices and schools in the last few days.

IEPO Director Mohammad Javad Mohammadizadeh told reporters in Tehran that 10 airplanes will sprinkle water over the city on Monday or Tuesday. He added that IEPO’s researchers are trying to find ways to shake up the atmosphere to produce rain or create artificial wind corridors to blow the thick haze away [Fars News Agency, 6 December].

According to a research carried out by the IEPO and the Tehran Municipality, over 80 percent of the air pollution is due to the 3.5 million automobiles plying the almost permanently clogged streets in the Iranian capital [Press TV, 6 December].

The geographical location of Tehran, wedged between mountains, is also a contributing factor in the pollution's chronic choke of Tehran.

Photo: Press TV