Iran’s record drought and cheap fuel have sparked an air pollution crisis

Air pollution is the latest environmental crisis causing havoc across Iran. Large parts of the country are already suffering from a drought, one of the worst in decades. Its wetlands are dry, and its land is subsiding at alarming rates.

Now the fallout is also affecting the air that the country’s more than 85 million people breathe. As lakes, wetlands, and riverbeds dry out, their exposed surfaces turn into major sources of dust. Strong winds can lift this dust and transport it across cities and even distant regions.

The extremely dry conditions have worsened Iran’s already high levels of air pollution. In recent weeks, the capital Tehran was ranked as the most polluted city in the world, according to global air quality monitors. In November, its air quality index hit 200 – a level classified as “very unhealthy”.

The terrible air quality has forced authorities to close schools, universities and offices to reduce exposure. Hospitals are reporting rising numbers of cases of respiratory and cardiac complications across the country.

Local media have reported more than 350 deaths within ten days linked to worsening air quality in recent weeks. Demand for emergency services in the capital has also increased by more than 30% during November 2025, according to local statistics.

Other major Iranian cities, including Tabriz, Mashhad and Isfahan, have recorded readings above 150 in the last few weeks. These levels are considered dangerous for all age groups. In Ahvaz and Zabol, air pollution from sand and dust storms has blanketed the southern cities, putting lives and livelihoods at risk.

Studies indicate more than 59,000 Iranians die prematurely every year from air pollution-related illnesses.

As well as dust rising from dried out lakes and wetlands, ageing cars and low-quality fuel in Iran’s major cities are contributing to the air pollution.

But focusing on these causes misses the bigger picture.

Iran’s air-pollution emergency is caused by the same governance failures that have destabilised the nation’s water systems, emptied its aquifers, dried out its wetlands, and accelerated land subsidence.

Just as Iran’s water crisis is not simply the result of drought, Iran’s polluted air is not simply the product of traffic.

In most major cities, a key burden comes from pollutants (such as nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, and fine particulates produced by burning low-quality fuel) as well as outdated engines, and heavy industrial fuels such as mazut.

These toxic emissions accumulate in cities and directly contribute to respiratory disease, and cardiovascular illness. Recent global satellite analyses, which are currently being reviewed by the journal Nature Cities, suggest that most mega cities (population more than 10 million) with significant levels of nitrogen dioxide pollution in the lower atmosphere (the layer of air we breath) have cut pollution levels in recent years.

How Tehran’s residents are coming with the drought.

However, Tehran is among the few large cities worldwide where these concentrations have increased between 2019 and 2024.

But combustion engines in old cars are only half the story. In many regions, a substantial share of PM₁₀ and PM₂.₅ (particles smaller than 10 micrometers and 2.5 micrometers which penetrate the lungs and bloodstream) now originates from dust and salt storms generated by shrinking lakes, rivers and wetlands. These particles can travel hundreds or even thousands of kilometres within hours, affecting cities far beyond their points of origin.

Our research, on Lake Urmia – once the Middle East’s largest saltwater lake – shows this clearly: as the lake bed dried, salt-laden dust plumes were capable of travelling hundreds of kilometres and even crossing national borders in less than 12 hours. This is a vivid illustration of how tightly Iran’s water crisis is intertwined with its air-pollution crisis.

Key causes of Iran’s air pollution

Iran’s air-pollution problem is not just a transport problem, a technological shortfall or a meteorological misfortune. It is fundamentally the predictable outcome of decades of government priorities, distorted incentives, and institutional inertia.

First, Iran’s government priorities have shaped a foreign policy that ultimately led to international sanctions and deepened the country’s economic and international isolation.

This isolation has had direct environmental consequences. It restricts access to modern air‑quality monitoring systems, industrial filtration technologies, and low‑emission engines, while deterring the foreign investment needed to upgrade transport and industry.

As a result, while other countries have reduced NO₂ and particulate pollution through cleaner technologies and tighter standards, Iran’s options remain severely limited by the political choices that produced its isolation.

Second, Iran’s extremely low fuel prices, sustained by immense subsidies, have made the national economy dependent on cheap energy, a key driver of the country’s inefficient electricity generation and excessive consumption. Vehicles with fuel inefficiencies unimaginable elsewhere remain commercially viable.

This is not an accidental policy outcome. It is part of a broader economic cycle in which subsidised fuel sustains outdated domestic car production and high-emitting industries, some of which are tied to powerful institutions whose financial interests depend on maintaining the status quo.

Nitrogen oxide levels in Iran (tonnes):

A graph showing NO2 levels in Iran. — World Bank data, CC BY

Resetting national priorities

Many countries have cut urban pollution through stricter emissions standards, cleaner transport, and integrated city planning, but Iran cannot do this without addressing the structural forces driving its emissions.

Reversing Iran’s air-quality crisis requires a fundamental shift in government priorities, placing environmental security and public health at the centre of policymaking. Iran’s challenge is not technical capacity but distorted incentives and national priorities. Only by reducing international isolation, strengthening transparency, and dismantling subsidy-driven distortions can Iran unlock the technologies and investment needed to clean its air.

Once these structural barriers are addressed, real progress becomes possible. This would include gradually changing fuel prices to curb high-emission vehicles, restoring access to global technology and finance to modernise the vehicle fleet and public transport, and reviving wetlands, lakes, and soils through water-governance reform to cut dust pollution.

Complementing these measures with advanced satellite monitoring, AI-based analysis, air monitoring stations, and better urban planing.

The air is not polluted because Iranians drive too much – it is polluted because the system that shapes the country’s priorities and choices is broken.

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This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Sanam Mahoozi, City St George's, University of London; Nima Shokri, United Nations University, and Salome M. S. Shokri-Kuehni, United Nations University; Technical University of Hamburg

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.