Schools in Tehran were ordered to be closed on Wednesday after the Iranian capital was cloaked in dangerously high levels of air pollution, authorities said.

Governor Anoushiravan Mohseni-Bandpey said kindergartens, preschools and primary schools would be shut in the city and the counties of Gharchak, Pishva and Varamin.

"The air quality index for the city of Tehran still has not passed the unhealthy status for sensitive groups," he was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA.

Average concentrations of hazardous airborne particles hit 133 micrograms per cubic metre in the city and were as high as 150 for 10 districts, he said.

That is far above the World Health Organization's recommended maximum of 25 micrograms per cubic metre on average over a 24-hour period.

Warnings were issued for children, pregnant women, the elderly and people suffering from cardio-vascular or respiratory diseases to stay indoors.

Many people were seen wearing face masks to avoid fumes as they waited for buses on the sides of traffic-choked streets of southern Tehran during morning rush-hour.

A layer of thick smog covered Tehran on Tuesday, but it appeared to dissipate in northern areas on Wednesday morning with fewer school buses on the roads.

Air pollution was the cause of nearly 30,000 deaths per year in Iranian cities, IRNA reported earlier this year, citing a health ministry official.

Each winter, Iran's sprawling capital suffers some of the worst pollution in the world through thermal inversion -- a phenomenon that traps hazardous air over the city.

According to a World Bank report last year, most of the pollution in the city of eight million inhabitants is caused by heavy duty vehicles, motorbikes, refineries and power plants.

Delhi smog hits 'emergency' levels as Britain's Prince Charles visits
New Delhi (AFP) Nov 13, 2019 - The Indian capital's notorious air pollution hit "emergency" levels again Wednesday, coinciding with a visit by Britain's Prince Charles.

New Delhi has been choked on and off for weeks, as industrial and traffic pollution -- combined with smoke from crop stubble burning -- cast a toxic pall over the metropolis.

For the second time in 10 days, the amount of 2.5PM -- the deadly tiny particles that get into the bloodstream and lungs -- hit "emergency" levels, nearly 20 times the safe limit set by the World Health Organisation.

With the government facing new criticism over steps taken to counter the pollution, Prince Charles visited the Indian Meteorology Department as part of his two-day visit to India.

Charles, frequently outspoken on green issues, was briefed on the crisis by Sunita Narain, a leading environmental activist.

She did not reveal details of her royal talks, but in a commentary last week said: "Every breath we take is poison."

Narain has called for faster moves away from coal and other "dirty fuels" as energy sources, and said authorities are doing "too little too late".

- Car rationing -

India's Supreme Court joined criticism of the government on Wednesday saying authorities had made "little constructive efforts" to curb pollution.

The court has ordered a new clampdown on stubble burning -- in theory already banned -- on farms surrounding the capital.\

It was acting because pollution "affects the vast majority of Indians."

Research released this year said the toxic smog across northern India cuts short the lives of around one million people each year.

The Delhi state government has taken measures including banning construction and only allowing cars on the road depending on whether the registration is an odd or even number.

The road rationing is meant to end on Friday, but Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said it could be extended.

Local authorities late Wednesday announced all schools in Delhi would be closed due to the pollution.

"Looking at the worsening situation... Delhi government has ordered all government and public schools to remain shut on Thursday and Friday," Manish Sisodia, deputy chief minister of Delhi said on Twitter.

India has 14 of the world's 15 most polluted cities, according to the WHO.

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Indian capital Delhi gasps under choking smog
New Delhi (AFP) Nov 3, 2019
India's capital New Delhi was enveloped in heavy, toxic smog Sunday - the worst levels in recent years - with hundreds of flights diverted or delayed as politicians blamed each other for failing to tackle the crisis. Every winter, the megacity of 20 million people is blanketed by a poisonous smog of car fumes, industrial emissions and smoke from stubble burning at farms in neighbouring states. Concentrations of fine particles (2.5 microns or less in diameter) in the air hit the highest level o ... read more