Holocaust deniers gassing their own nation

[Orignally Posted December 23 2005]

While Iranian politicians cite soo strongly against the west and take aggresive stand in their useless nuclear program, they are really doing very little for their own nation.

Source: Newsweek

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MSNBC.com
Choking in Tehran Global attention may be focused on Iranian President Ahmadinejad's Holocaust denials, but residents of its capital city have other concerns.
WEB EXCLUSIVE
By Maziar Bahari
Newsweek
Updated: 4:39 p.m. ET Dec. 22, 2005

Dec. 22, 2005 - Even by Tehran's dismal standards, the onset of winter was catastrophic. As temperatures dropped, pollution levels rose. Dangerous gases, including carbon monoxide, blanketed the Iranian capital, straining its residents' hearts and lungs. Tehran's Emergency Medical Services reported that the number of people experiencing cardiac episodes jumped from a daily summer average of 40 to 50 to a massive 400 to 700 during the second week of December.

Tehran already has more than its share of problems. Its new president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has drawn international opprobrium for his Holocaust denials and suggestion that Israel should be moved to Europe. Foreign governments are trying to curb Iran's nuclear program. Its leaders are accused of trying to intervene in last week's Iraq election by trucking in fake ballots favoring Shiite candidates. Earlier this month, an Iranian military plane trying to make an emergency landing crashed into an apartment building, leaving 105 dead. But for residents of the capital, there's a more pressing crisis: the city's worsening smog.

What causes the toxicity? One reason is Tehran's unfortunate geography. The capital is sited in a bowl surrounded by mountains, which means that fumes and exhaust gases are trapped during cool weather. Then there are the cars. "The main reason for the pollution in Tehran is personal vehicles," says Mohammah Hadi Haydarzadeh, an adviser to the Iranian government’s Environment Organization. Half of Iran's 6 million private cars are jammed into the capital, spewing fumes as they inch around a congested city that offers minimal public transport for its 12 million residents. Many, if not most, of these vehicles are decrepit jalopies running on leaded gas. "Most of the cars manufactured in the country didn't meet safety and environmental standards," says Haydarzadeh. “We recently started to regulate the cars. But the old ones are still allowed to drive in the city." The result, says Haydarzadeh, was that last year Tehran experienced only 123 "clean" days, when pollution was below harmful levels. The final tally for 2004, he says, is expected to be even worse.

Iran's leaders say they are working to solve the problem. Six years ago, nine government groups promised to work together to clean the capital's air by 2011. But, as is so often the case, the effort has been dogged by infighting and intra-agency disagreements. In a recent meeting, the Environment Organization’s Khalagh Mirnia accused Tehran's mayor of ignoring the law and purchasing new gasoline-burning buses despite a decision requiring them to be phased out by 2006. "We know the objective: to have a Tehran with clean air," says Mirnia. "But there is no real will to do anything."

Meanwhile, Tehran residents are suffering. Casual visitors often experience headaches, irritated eyes or nausea after just a few hours in the city. Children, whose developing brains are most susceptible to lead poisoning, are especially vulnerable. The impact of the bad air quality on their health is not fully known because studies on elementary-school students' test rates are kept secret. But according to an official in Iran's Ministry of Education who did not want to be named, the number of Tehran children who perform too poorly to be promoted to the next grade is rising every year. "The number [of failures] is incomparable to the rest of the country," says the official. "We are almost sure that this has to do with the air pollution in the city." At one point this month, air quality deteriorated to the point that authorities had to shut down all schools and government offices for several days. The government also introduced new laws restricting traffic in central Tehran in a bid to clean the air.

Tehranis, however, are not impressed. "These are temporary solutions to a long-term problem," says Haydarzadeh. Mahnaz Rasooli, a 44-year-old teacher, is more outspoken. "Why doesn't our government care about the people in this country for a change?" she asks. "Our children and old people are suffering every day." Earlier that day, Rasooli had experienced such severe breathing problems she sought help at a hospital emergency room. She waited for four hours before a doctor performed a cursory examination and sent her home. "He said he couldn't do anything. The doctor's only suggestion was to leave Tehran for a while," says Rasooli. "But how can I do that? How would I support myself and my family?"

Like many in the city, Rasooli sees the government's failure to reduce pollution as a symbol of its inefficiency in other areas too. Referring to President Ahmadinejad's controversial comments that "Germany and Austria should create a country for the Zionists in one of their provinces if they feel so guilty about what happened [during World War II]," she says: "It's not his business to tell other people to move somewhere else." On this day, though, her energy is primarily focused on navigating her way through a thick cloud of exhaust fumes on the city's clogged streets. "Living in this city," she says, "is like living in a gas chamber."

© 2005 Newsweek, Inc.
© 2005 MSNBC.com
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