29 Mar 2024
Tuesday 16 January 2018 - 16:00
Story Code : 290230

Iran's reformists rack up political points while smog smothers Tehran

Al-Monitor | : Iran's air pollution crisis, whichclaimed more than 4,800 lives in 2016, has become yet another area for scoringpolitical pointsfor both the Reformists and the Principlists, much like almost everything else in Iran. Ever since the Reformists took over the presidency and the capital city, they no longer criticize the administration or the municipality for not resolving the air pollution crisis. The matter has been forgotten and replaced by partisan attacks aimed at variousIranian political groups.


For the past decade,air pollutionhas been an increasingly common feature of Tehran during the months of December and January. On certain days, Tehrans weather is a hazard to all age groups. Under the administration of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, he and then-Tehran Mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf took turns accusing each other of neglecting their responsibility to address the air pollution crisis. Ever sinceHassan Rouhaniwas elected president in 2013, the Reformist media outlets have focused their criticism on the municipality's administration and Ghalibaf, who was still mayor last year. The issue came up during the televisedpresidential debates. In June 2013, Ghalibaf and Reformist candidate Mohammad Reza Aref accused each other of being responsible for the air pollution crisis.

However, Rouhanis administration has gotten no closer to solving Tehrans air pollution problem. During the presidential debates leading up to the May 2017 elections,Ghalibaf criticized the administrationand held it responsible for the air pollution problem.

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