Israel Matzav

An opportunity for regime change in Iran?

Here's an interesting item from a BBC report on Wednesday.

0850
Iranian authorities have advised the one and a half million people who live in Isfahan to leave the city if they can because pollution has now reached emergency levels. The same thing happened in the capital Tehran earlier this week. Kasra Naji works for the BBC's Persian TV service in London.

Reader David W writes:

Western "sources" should be hyping this, supplying their air quality reports and otherwise dramatizing this story for all its worth to create panic and a vote of non-confidence in Mullah's mad leadership.

Well, maybe. But this isn't a new issue. A quick Google of Isfahan (pictured above) pollution returned hundreds of results.

But Tehran looks even worse (see the pictures at that link) and no one seems upset by it. Here's a report from Monday in Tehran:

Tehran's emergency air pollution coordination committee held a meeting on Monday to assess the situation and take the measures necessary to reduce pollution.

The committee decided to close elementary schools and daycare centers on Tuesday and Wednesday due to heavy air pollution.

Later on the day, the choking smog was dissipated by the breeze.

Heavy smog on some days in autumn and winter, due to inversion and the geographical location of Tehran, which is surrounded by mountains, is not a new phenomenon. In fact, it has become a chronic problem over the past few years. But officials do not address the issue until it reaches a critical point, and even then only take a few emergency measures to temporarily alleviate the problem.

How often are your kids' schools closed because of pollution? And yet, no one seems to get too excited about it in Iran. Maybe when that smog starts to carry radioactive particles, someone will wake up.... 

Labels: Iran, Isfahan, Tehran

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:47 PM