Smog forces Tehran to redeclare public holiday

4 January 2013, 02:30 (GMT+04:00)

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Air pollution in Iran's capital has forced the government to once again declare a one-day public holiday, the Tehran governor's office declared Thursday, dpa reported.

ISNA news agency quoted the Tehran governor's office as saying all public institutions, schools and universities in Tehran will be closed on Saturday. Hospitals were exempt.

All games in the Iranian premier league scheduled to be held in Tehran on Friday and Saturday were canceled to avoid jeopardizing the players' health, ISNA said.

In addition there will be new strict traffic rules with special days for cars with even and uneven plate numbers being allowed into the streets, the police announced.

Just last month Iran was forced to declared two holidays in the capital because of the amount of air pollution.

Tehran, which spreads over an area of 900 square kilometres, is considered one of the world's most polluted cities. On weekdays, the city's population reaches 15 million, leading to traffic jams and high pollution in the city centre.