Iranian actor Reza Kianian satirizes Tehran’s air pollution

TEHRAN,May 29(MNA) -- Prominent Iranian actor Reza Kianian used satire to lament Tehran’s air pollution during the closing ceremony of the 4th Tehran Satire Festival on Sunday. He was one of the honorees of the festival, which is held annually by the Tehran Municipality. Tehran Mayor Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf and members of the Tehran City Council attended the festival. “Right now, I feel like all my insides have come up to my throat,” Kianian speaking the local dialect of Mashhad, his motherland, said during his acceptance speech at Milad Tower. “I want to tell Mr. Qalibaf, who comes from my hometown, that there are many ways to kill. One way is that we make the children work so hard that it causes them to die. Another way is that we make the air be so polluted that it causes everyone to die!” he added. “Who is responsible for the pollution? Whom should we buttonhole?” Kianian asked. According to the Air Quality Control Company, which is an affiliate of the Tehran Municipality, Tehran citizens breathed clean air only three days over the last year. Due to air pollution, schools and public organizations have occasionally been shut in Tehran over the past few years. In addition, dust storms originating from Iraq have made breathing difficult for the metropolitans and people living in the western Iranian cities over the past few years.