Ahvaz in Iran lies on the outer edges of what was once known as the Fertile Crescent. Trees that had once hung heavy with dates and citrus fruits now wither due to a dust-borne fungus. The surrounding plains, where many of the world’s first cultivated crops were grown, are now barren, poisoned by oil refineries and other extractive industries that have accelerated the region’s ecological breakdown. Less than 100km from the Iraq border, in a province containing the third largest oilfield in the world and most of the country’s Sunni Muslim and Arab minorities, Ahvaz has a difficult relationship with the capital, Tehran, perceived as largely indifferent to the city’s struggles.
In 2011 Ahvaz was ranked by the World Health Organization as having the worst air quality of any city globally. After a decade little has changed. It remains one of the world’s most polluted cities and its air has been proved to have increased deaths, and been linked to a rise in cardiovascular diseases.
The growing prevalence of illness that pollution has inflicted on the people of Ahvaz has been examined by several research groups. One 10-year study confirmed growing levels of noxious fumes were behind a rise in cardiovascular hospital admissions.
“Tehran looks at Ahvaz as an object,” says Madadi, “As something they can rely on for selling fuel and making money and that’s pretty much it. They take and take from us and they don’t give us anything in return.” said Mohamad Madadi, who has made it his life's work to photograph the heavily polluted city, as a symbol of Iran’s environmental crisis.
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