Iran denies home-produced fuel contributes to pollution

Reuters/DubaiIran’s state-owned oil refining company denied yesterday that poor quality, domestically-produced fuel is contributing to Tehran’s worsening pollution crisis, saying that its gasoline met refining standards.Thick yellow smog has shrouded the Iranian capital for most of the past week, prompting the closure of government offices, banks and schools for several days and official calls for residents to leave the city or remain indoors.Residents are often subjected to severe pollution created by heavy traffic and large-scale industry. On windless days the particles get trapped in the city by the surrounding Alborz mountains to form noxious and harmful air.But the recent increase in smog is blamed by many on domestically produced fuel, the English-language Tehran Times reported this week, asserting that Iran’s car manufacturers continue to produce cars with inefficient combustion systems.In response, the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company said in a statement: “The increase in the rate of air pollution in large cities in Iran has not been caused by products from (Iran’s petrochemical producers).”It said tests demonstrated that Iranian petrol met national standards and was “comparable” to the products of other refining companies.Officials have previously stated that around a third of Iran’s domestically produced petrol and diesel meets Euro-4 and Euro-5 standards.To ease the smog, the government ordered the temporary closure of factories and is more rigorously enforcing a traffic limitation scheme that allows cars to drive in the city on alternate days depending on whether the final digit of their number plates is odd or even.But concern is rising among health officials over what many regard as a worsening pollution problem and there are calls for the government to do more to tackle it.