Severe heatwave in Iran forces shops and public institutions to close

The Guardians – July 27th2024

A heatwave blanketing Iran has forced authorities to cut operating hours at various facilities on Saturday and order all government and commercial institutions to close on Sunday, as hospitals received more than 200 people for heatstroke treatment.

Temperatures ranged from 37C (98.6F) to 42C (107F) in the capital, Tehran, according to weather reports.

The state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) said banks, offices and public institutions across the country would close on Sunday to protect people’s health and conserve energy and that only emergency services and medical agencies would be excluded.

Babak Yektaparast, a spokesperson for the country’s emergency department, told the semi-official Mehr news agency that 225 people had sought medical help for heatstroke and some had been admitted to hospital.

Sadegh Ziaian, an official at the National Meteorological Organisation, was quoted by Mehr as saying temperatures exceeded 45C (113F) in 10 Iranian provinces on Saturday, with the highest temperature of 49.7C (121F) recorded in Delgan, the south-eastern city in Sistan and Balochistan province, which borders Pakistan and Afghanistan.

He said a drop in temperature was expected on Monday but warned that “this does not mean that the air will cool down”.

Authorities cut working hours on Saturday in many provinces because of the sweltering heat, the IRNA reported. Iranian media advised people to stay indoors until 5pm local time.

Authorities said electricity consumption reached record levels of 78,106MW on Tuesday as people tried to stay cool.

Nournews, which has close links to Iran’s supreme national security council, reported on Wednesday that temperatures in Iran are rising at twice the pace of global temperatures. Iran has become 2C warmer over the past 50 years, compared with 1C worldwide, the agency said.

Heatwaves are becoming more severe and prolonged owing to the global climate crisis, which has been caused primarily by the burning of fossil fuels.

Last year, Iran ordered a two-day nationwide holiday because of increasing temperatures.

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https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/27/severe-heatwave-in-iran-forces-shops-and-public-institutions-to-close