Tehran, Iran – Iranians in the capital and many other cities across the country are breathing in toxic fumes as authorities resort to burning dirty fuel to produce electricity and cope with multiple ongoing crises .

At 14 power plants, authorities for years have burned mazut, a dark residue of petroleum high in sulphur and other impurities, whenever they run out of natural gas to feed the electricity generators.

This happens each year due to what observers call chronic mismanagement and ageing infrastructure. It occurs despite heavily sanctioned Iran having the world’s second largest proven natural gas reserves and the third largest crude oil reserves.

Thick and suffocating layers of smog blanketed Tehran on Monday even as traffic was light as the country shut down to observe a rel

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