Iran declared a public holiday on Wednesday for government offices in 14 provinces, as extreme heat strains the country’s power grid and water supply.
All government offices and public institutions will be closed on Wednesday in the provinces of Tehran, Alborz, Gilan, Mazandaran, Kerman, Yazd, Golestan, Razavi Khorasan, North Khorasan, Qom, Markazi, Fars, Bushehr, and Hormozgan.
Emergency and essential services will remain operational.
The Ministry of Energy and the Meteorological Organization warned that unprecedented temperatures are placing severe pressure on the national electricity network.
In East Azerbaijan province, only the cities of Tabriz and Osku will observe the shutdown. Lorestan province closed its offices on Tuesday, with no announcement yet regarding Wednesday.
Six other provinces have reduced working hours instead of implementing full closures.
Government offices in Semnan, Kermanshah, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, Ilam, Sistan and Baluchestan, and Khuzestan will open early and close between 11 a.m. and noon. Ilam and Khuzestan will also implement remote work arrangements.
On Tuesday, President Masoud Pezeshkian said that "Tehran does not have the possibility to continue surviving as the capital."
He told the Environmental Protection Organization that future development should shift to the southern coastal regions, rather than remaining on the central plateau.
“If conditions had been prepared, I would have already moved the government to the Makran region,” Pezeshkian said.
On Sunday, he warned the cabinet that Iran’s water crisis is more severe than publicly acknowledged.
“If we don’t think of an urgent solution starting today, we will face conditions in the future for which no remedy can be found,” he said.
Interested in writing for IranWire?
Share your stories.
comments