Baghdad shuts 22 illegal metal smelting sites in fresh push against air pollution

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s Environment Ministry announced Sunday the closure of more than 22 illegal metal smelting sites in Baghdad’s Rusafa area as part of ongoing joint inspection campaigns targeting pollution sources across the capital.

Sinan Jaafar, director general of Environmental Protection and Improvement for the central region, told the Iraqi News Agency that the sites had been emitting “harmful gases and odors” directly affecting the environment and public health. The closures were carried out in coordination with Baghdad Operations Command and municipal departments, and the ministry said it would continue “specialized and intensive field campaigns” to monitor environmental breaches and take legal action against violators.

Baghdad has long struggled with pollution driven by industrial emissions, vehicle exhaust, diesel generators and unregulated waste burning. The latest closures follow a broader crackdown in December 2025, when authorities shut down 326 facilities including 208 metal smelting kilns and 118 asphalt and brick factories for violating environmental and health regulations. That action came after an emergency meeting convened by Baghdad Governor Atwan al-Atwani in November to address what officials described as a deepening air-quality crisis, with key sources identified as the Rashid Camp waste dump, the Nahrawan landfill, brick factories and widespread waste burning in residential areas.

Iraq Green Observatory, an environmental monitoring group, warned earlier this year that rainfall in heavily polluted cities including Baghdad and Basra poses health risks comparable to acid rain due to high levels of air contamination.