TEHRAN (Iran News) –2023 was the hottest year on the record on the earth, a major source of concern that drought will pose serious threats in water stressed countries like Iran.

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Masoud Zardovian said the annual overhaul program of the country’s refineries is progressed over 65 percent, explaining: “During the first seven months of the year, an intensive overhaul program is defined and implemented at a specific schedule for the 18 gas refineries that are now operational so that we can get through the winter smoothly.”

“By implementing this program, which aims to maintain the system in an efficient condition, the reliability of the refineries will increase, and in this way, we can maximize the amount of processing and ensure that clean, safe, and efficient gas is supplied to various sectors,” he added.

Stating that the overhaul of gas refineries began in the first Iranian calendar month of Farvardin (started on March 21) and will continue until the end of the seventh calendar month of Mehr (October 22), Zardovian said: “Obviously, timely repairs will be promising for sustainable gas production in winter.”

“Due to the preparations, risk assessments and technical inspections using the latest equipment, the overhaul time has been continuously improving in recent years, and now we are able to allocate the least possible time to such operations in order to be able to have the maximum amount of production,” the official explained.

He noted that out of the country’s total 18 gas refineries (12 South Pars gas refineries and six gas refining companies), the overhaul operations of 10 refineries have been completed and the repairs of the other five are also underway and will be completed by the beginning of the cold season.

“We have made the necessary arrangements and made the necessary predictions. All our colleagues in the production, processing and distribution sectors are ready to deliver this clean, safe, stable and sustainable energy to all people, even in remote rural areas, so that we do not see pressure drops or gas outages at any point,” Zardovian said.

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Residents of Keamari in Pakistan, a commercial and residential area, began falling sick Sunday on apparently a toxic gas leak, officials said.

A doctor at one hospital, who asked not to be named, said 250 people had been admitted for treatment, after complaining of breathing difficulties and burning eyes after the mysterious emission.

Local health ministry spokesman Zafar Mehdi told AFP that 14 people had died at various hospitals due to breathing in the environment influenced by the toxic gas.

At the state-run Jinnah Post-graduate Medical Center, about 35 people arrived for emergency treatment.

“Most of the patients were suffering from choking and breathlessness,” Seemin Jamali, who heads the emergency department, told AFP.

Authorities initially suspected some sort of gas could have leaked from the port, but the Karachi Port Trust denied that was the case.

“All the casualties took place outside the port, and our facility is clean,” a port spokesman said.

Authorities have sought help from the navy’s chemical and biological department, according to Nasir Shah, the provincial information minister.

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AFP correspondents said the snow started falling early in the Sunday morning and disrupted the flow of traffic on some of the city’s main highways and hampered transportation.

“We knew that it would snow as of last night and that it naturally affects traffic and schools,” head of Tehran Traffic Police Mohammad-Reza Mehmandar told state television.

“On some highways in the north (of Tehran), there was a bit of ice… and accidents were responded to as quick as possible,” he added.

Schools in all the districts of Tehran City and some parts of the province were closed in both morning and the afternoon due to the heavy snowfall.

“Flights at Mehrabad will go ahead but with delays due to the lack of proper vision,” said Reza Jafarzadeh, spokesman for Iran’s aviation authority.

But flights were still going according to schedule at Imam Khomeini International Airport, despite the heavy snowfall in Tehran, he added.

Based on Iranian news broadcasting forecasts ion snowfall to continue until Monday in Tehran and other northern provinces.

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