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Smog Forces Schools Shut in Iran

Air pollution obscures the skyline in Tehran on November 30, 2019. (AP)
Air pollution obscures the skyline in Tehran on November 30, 2019. (AP)
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Smog Forces Schools Shut in Iran

Air pollution obscures the skyline in Tehran on November 30, 2019. (AP)
Air pollution obscures the skyline in Tehran on November 30, 2019. (AP)

Air pollution forced schools to close on Sunday in parts of Iran including Tehran, state media reported, as the capital lay under a thick cloud of smog.

The pollution level in the capital was "unhealthy for sensitive groups" and officials warned the young, elderly and people with respiratory illnesses to stay indoors, with sporting activities suspended.

The decision to shut schools in the capital was announced late Saturday by deputy governor Mohammad Taghizadeh, after a meeting of an emergency committee on air pollution.

"All of (Tehran) province's schools except for Firuzkuh and Damavand counties are closed for Sunday," he said, quoted by state news agency IRNA.

Schools in the capital may stay closed on Monday, the third day of the Iranian working week, he added.

An "odd-even" traffic scheme based on vehicles' registration numbers was imposed to restrict traffic in the capital, IRNA reported.

Trucks were banned outright in Tehran province.

Taghizadeh added that all activities at Tehran province's numerous sand quarries would also be halted.

A grey cloud hung over Tehran on Sunday, obstructing the view of the mountains overlooking the city to the north.

Average airborne concentration of the finest and most hazardous particles (PM2.5) was at 145 micrograms per cubic meter for the 24 hours until Sunday noon, according to government website air.tehran.ir.

That is close to six times the World Health Organization's recommended maximum of 25 micrograms per m3.

Schools were also closed in the northern province of Alborz and in the central cities of Qom and Arak, IRNA reported.

Air pollution was the cause of nearly 30,000 deaths per year in Iranian cities, state media reported earlier this year, citing a health ministry official.

The problem worsens in Tehran during winter, cold air and a lack of wind traps hazardous smog over the city for days on end, a phenomenon known as thermal inversion.

Most of the city's pollution is caused by heavy vehicles, motorbikes, refineries and power plants, according to a World Bank report released last year.

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Danish General Says He Is Not Losing Sleep over US Plans for Greenland

FILE - A view of a Greenland flag in the village of Igaliku in Greenland, Friday, July 5, 2024. (Ida Marie Odgaard/ Ritzau Scanpix via AP, File)
FILE - A view of a Greenland flag in the village of Igaliku in Greenland, Friday, July 5, 2024. (Ida Marie Odgaard/ Ritzau Scanpix via AP, File)
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Danish General Says He Is Not Losing Sleep over US Plans for Greenland

FILE - A view of a Greenland flag in the village of Igaliku in Greenland, Friday, July 5, 2024. (Ida Marie Odgaard/ Ritzau Scanpix via AP, File)
FILE - A view of a Greenland flag in the village of Igaliku in Greenland, Friday, July 5, 2024. (Ida Marie Odgaard/ Ritzau Scanpix via AP, File)

The head of Denmark's Arctic command said the prospect of a US takeover of Greenland was not keeping him up at night after talks with a senior US general last week but that more must be done to deter any Russian attack on the Arctic island.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly suggested the United States might acquire Greenland, a vast semi-autonomous Danish territory on the shortest route between North America and Europe vital for the US ballistic missile warning system.

Trump has not ruled out taking the territory by force and, at a congressional hearing this month, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth did not deny that such contingency plans exist.

Such a scenario "is absolutely not on my mind," Soren Andersen, head of Denmark's Joint Arctic Command, told Reuters in an interview, days after what he said was his first meeting with the general overseeing US defense of the area.

"I sleep perfectly well at night," Anderson said. "Militarily, we work together, as we always have."

US General Gregory Guillot visited the US Pituffik Space Base in Greenland on June 19-20 for the first time since the US moved Greenland oversight to the Northern command from its European command, the Northern Command said on Tuesday.

Andersen's interview with Reuters on Wednesday were his first detailed comments to media since his talks with Guillot, which coincided with Danish military exercises on Greenland involving one of its largest military presences since the Cold War.

Russian and Chinese state vessels have appeared unexpectedly around Greenland in the past and the Trump administration has accused Denmark of failing to keep it safe from potential incursions. Both countries have denied any such plans.

Andersen said the threat level to Greenland had not increased this year. "We don't see Russian or Chinese state ships up here," he said.

DOG SLED PATROLS

Denmark's permanent presence consists of four ageing inspection vessels, a small surveillance plane, and dog sled patrols tasked with monitoring an area four times the size of France.

Previously focused on demonstrating its presence and civilian tasks like search and rescue, and fishing inspection, the Joint Arctic Command is now shifting more towards territorial defense, Andersen said.

"In reality, Greenland is not that difficult to defend," he said. "Relatively few points need defending, and of course, we have a plan for that. NATO has a plan for that."

As part of the military exercises this month, Denmark has deployed a frigate, F-16s, special forces and extra troops, and increased surveillance around critical infrastructure. They would leave next week when the exercises end, Andersen said, adding that he would like to repeat them in the coming months.

"To keep this area conflict-free, we have to do more, we need to have a credible deterrent," he said. "If Russia starts to change its behavior around Greenland, I have to be able to act on it."

In January, Denmark pledged over $2 billion to strengthen its Arctic defense, including new Arctic navy vessels, long-range drones, and satellite coverage. France offered to deploy troops to Greenland and EU's top military official said it made sense to station troops from EU countries there.

Around 20,000 people live in the capital Nuuk, with the rest of Greenland's 57,000 population spread across 71 towns, mostly on the west coast. The lack of infrastructure elsewhere is a deterrent in itself, Andersen said.

"If, for example, there were to be a Russian naval landing on the east coast, I think it wouldn't be long before such a military operation would turn into a rescue mission," he said.