​Thick and stubborn clouds of hazardous emissions have blanketed the Iranian capital, Tehran, for four weeks in a row, only adding to a long list of challenges residents in the megacity are grappling with on a daily basis.

Characterized by its frustrating traffic jams, which have been exacerbated by a poor public transportation infrastructure and an unregulated population growth, sparked by an exodus of job seekers from across the nation, Tehran has in the past two decades hosted worsening air pollution, particularly during winter inversions.

Iranian authorities have repeatedly put much of the blame on ordinary motorists and their unessential inner-city commuting. Addressing the issue, the government has introduced multiple traffic control measures, including alternate-day travel, imposing hefty fines on violators.

Yet the level and the timing of the ongoing pollution seem to have challenged the traditional approach as public billboards of pollution indicators have been displaying extremely alarming rates of poisonous particles, especially sulfur dioxide. And the new emissions are hitting a city, which has been under unprecedented curfews and travel restrictions as part of the government’s coronavirus pandemic prevention policies.