Road Closures and School Shutdowns Due to Severe Snow and Blizzards in Iran

"Heavy snowfall and severe blizzards" in 23 provinces of Iran led to the closure of 28 "important" roads, stranding thousands of travelers, cutting gas supplies in areas of three counties, and the closure of schools in ten provinces on Tuesday, December 8. According to the state news agency IRNA, Yasser Khaledi, spokesperson for the country's road management center, reported that "heavy snowfall, severe blizzards, and reduced visibility" had caused the closure of 28 "important" roads, although 17 roads have reopened and road maintenance teams are working to clear 11 more. Khaledi stated that the wave of precipitation that began on December 4 has "affected" 23 provinces and disrupted traffic on many roads. Meanwhile, Mehdi Mahmoudi, police chief of Qazvin province, reported that over seven thousand travelers were accommodated in mosques and religious sites due to the "severe blizzard" on the roads and highways of the province. Safiollah Karamati, head of crisis management in Zanjan province, also reported that on Tuesday evening, 3,900 travelers were stranded in the snow and were accommodated in cities within the province. Morteza Salimi, CEO of the Red Crescent Society in Markazi province, stated on Tuesday that assistance has been provided to 2,749 travelers who had been trapped in snow and blizzards on the province's roads in the past two days. The weather conditions resulted in the cancellation of 51 flights at Tehran's Mehrabad Airport on Monday, with some flights on Tuesday also experiencing delays. Snowfall in Iranian provinces has also led to the closure of some schools in recent days. Meanwhile, according to the IRNA news agency, schools in the provinces of Mazandaran, Gilan, Qazvin, Semnan, Lorestan, Qom, Hamadan, North Khorasan, Markazi, and some counties in Tehran province were declared closed on Tuesday morning. Majid Boujarzadeh, spokesperson for the National Gas Company, reported on Monday that following a significant drop in temperatures, approximately 100 million cubic meters were added to the country's daily gas consumption. Reports indicate that on Monday, gas supplies in some areas of Marivan county in Kurdistan province, Sardasht in West Azerbaijan province, and Alishtar in Lorestan province were cut off due to cold weather and pressure drops. Mohammad Fallahi, the governor of Marivan county, reported on Monday evening that gas supplies to 4,000 households in the county had been cut off and warned that if cold weather and pressure drops continue, the number of gas outages could increase. Additionally, according to IRNA, several CNG gas stations in Kermanshah city were closed due to pressure drops. Severe snowfall in previous years has also led to road closures and the deaths of several Iranian citizens. For instance, in the winter of 2013, at least six people lost their lives due to snowfall in Mazandaran and Gilan provinces. In April 2014, a new wave of cold and snowfall trapped thousands of Nowruz travelers on the roads, leading to a landslide that resulted in at least two deaths.