Iran plans on extending the holiday it announced to government employees in response to electricity shortage, as the temperature level ranges between 40 and 50 degrees Celsius across the country.
"The cabinet agreed to the health ministry proposal to declare Wednesday and Thursday public holidays all over the country to protect public health," the Iranian media quoted government spokesman Ali Bahadori Jahromi as saying.
A spokesman of the health ministry described the number of heat-related illnesses in recent days as "alarming.”
In June, Iran changed summer working hours for government employees to save electricity.
IRGC-affiliated Tasnim news agency reported that the holiday can be extended if the health ministry decided that the heat endangers people’s health.
Professor Kaveh Madani, the Director of the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health, stated that the failure of water reserves, and the shortage of electricity and gas can’t be resolved by shutdowns and closures.
Madani previously served as the deputy of Iran’s Environmental Protection Organization under former President Hassan Rouhani. He was forced to leave Iran after the IRGC-affiliated media issued security accusations against him.
Even if you have built a hundred dams, without good management there will be a lack of water, said Madani.
He added that the roots of Iran’s gas bankruptcy bear striking resemblance to the roots of its water bankruptcy but there is a crucial difference in the water and energy sectors: Iran's water is naturally limited, but the country holds one of the world's largest natural gas reserves.
