Iran’s energy and environmental crises: The promise of a free Iran - opinion

Iran holds some of the world’s largest oil and natural gas reserves, yet millions of Iranians are struggling with energy shortages, inefficient industries, and severe air pollution.

During periods of natural gas shortages, particularly in winter, power plants and industrial facilities have increasingly relied on highly polluting fuels such as mazut, a heavy fuel oil that contributes significantly to air pollution.

The problem is compounded by winter temperature inversions, which trap pollutants near the ground and intensify air pollution in major cities.

These interconnected failures carry enormous human and economic costs. According to Iran’s own Health Ministry, nearly 59,000 deaths were attributed to air pollution in the Iranian year ending March 2025, with an estimated economic loss of $17.2 billion.

Behind this crisis lies nearly 47 years of governance under the Islamic regime that has failed to translate the country’s natural wealth into public health, energy security, and sustainable economic prosperity.

The Islamic Republic has repeatedly subordinated environmental protection and sustainable development to political, ideological, and institutional interests. Decades of inadequate investment, weak regulatory oversight, and a lack of institutional accountability have allowed these systemic failures to persist largely unchecked.

Recently, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi emphasized the environmental damage caused by American and Israeli military strikes. Armed conflicts can undoubtedly cause ecological harm, deserving independent scientific investigation.

But Iran’s environmental and energy crises long predate these conflicts. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has been a major contributor to Iran’s environmental degradation through its extensive military and economic activities, including environmentally destructive infrastructure projects, encroachment into ecologically protected areas, and activities that have undermined independent environmental oversight.

Environmental accountability cannot be selective. A regime that has spent nearly 47 years exploiting Iran’s natural resources to serve its political and ideological interests cannot credibly portray itself as a defender of the environment while ignoring the destruction associated with its own policies.

Redefining national prosperity

Iran’s energy insecurity and environmental deterioration are closely connected. Inefficient electricity generation, aging infrastructure, inadequate natural gas management, and the combustion of highly polluting fuels contribute to the pollution crisis while undermining industrial productivity.

Iran’s natural resources should serve its people rather than sustain institutional inefficiency and political privilege. Achieving that transformation will demand accountable institutions, coordinated environmental and energy policies, industrial modernization, and international partnerships.

The Iran Prosperity Project, developing a road map for Iran’s reconstruction after the Islamic Republic under the leadership of Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, recognizes that environmental recovery, energy security, and economic revitalization must advance together.

Modernizing Iran’s energy infrastructure, improving natural gas management, and diversifying electricity generation are essential to addressing chronic energy shortages and reducing reliance on highly polluting fuels.

At the same time, strengthening environmental regulations, improving pollution monitoring, and investing in cleaner technologies can help restore air quality and protect public health. Together, these efforts provide the foundation for sustainable industrial and economic development.

Industrial revitalization offers an opportunity to transform Iran’s outdated production systems into competitive, efficient, and environmentally responsible industries.

Environmental protection should be integrated into industrial modernization rather than treated as a competing priority. Cleaner production processes, modern pollution controls, and energy-efficient manufacturing can reduce environmental impacts while improving productivity.

Modernizing public transportation, introducing cleaner vehicle technologies, and encouraging industrial competition could improve urban air quality while creating opportunities for technological innovation and skilled employment.

The objective should not be to choose between industrial growth and environmental protection, but to build an economy in which modernization advances both.

International cooperation opportunities

Rebuilding Iran’s energy, industrial, and environmental systems will require investment, scientific expertise, and international cooperation.

Pahlavi’s vision, reflected in the proposed Cyrus Accords, offers opportunities for partnerships based on technological progress, economic development, and mutual prosperity.

The Cyrus Accords could help translate renewed Iranian-Israeli relations into practical cooperation across these critical sectors.

Such engagement could provide a foundation for future collaboration in clean energy, infrastructure modernization, advanced manufacturing, environmental technologies, and pollution control.

Joint research, technology partnerships, and professional exchanges could combine Israeli experience with Iran’s substantial scientific and engineering capabilities, developing solutions tailored to the country’s economic and environmental needs.

These partnerships could also demonstrate how scientific cooperation can overcome decades of hostility imposed by the Islamic regime, restoring friendship and delivering tangible benefits to both nations.

After nearly 47 years of failed governance under the Islamic regime, Iranians deserve a country where abundant energy resources power competitive industries instead of recurring shortages, where economic progress supports environmental protection, and where scientific cooperation replaces ideological hostility.

Making Iran’s skies breathable, its energy reliable, and its industries competitive would be powerful measures of a free Iran’s renewal.

Dr. Aidin Panahi is an energy and industrial policy expert, author, and advisor to the Iran Prosperity Project. Follow him on X: @Aidin_FreeIran

Dr. Bahram Vahedi is a water and environmental researcher, strategist, author, and advisor to the Iran Prosperity Project. Follow him on X: @VahediBahram