Reactions to New Restrictions on Gasoline Purchases in Iran: A Sign of 'New Crisis'

Long lines for gasoline in various cities in Iran have sparked criticism from citizens following the implementation of new restrictions on the use of fuel cards. Reports on Tuesday, August 15, indicated that long queues formed at gas stations, with claims that 'most stations are out of gasoline.' In recent days, the state news network confirmed that 'fuel delivery to some stations has been delayed,' attributing this issue to 'increased gasoline consumption' and 'summer travel.' Meanwhile, Reza Nawaz, spokesperson for the fuel station owners' guild, detailed the new restrictions for using free fuel cards across the country, stating that there are 'four models' including '15 liters, 20 liters, 30 liters, and 40 liters,' which 'vary by city.' According to this guild official, 'refueling with personal fuel cards' also occurs in three models of '30, 40, and 60 liters,' and 'in Tehran, there has been a restriction on refueling with the free card for 40 liters for two days.' Reports from Iran indicate that the 'gasoline shortage' is 'more severe' for super gasoline. The Hamshahri newspaper, affiliated with the capital's municipality, reported that in some fuel distribution stations, 'especially in metropolitan areas,' the gasoline shortage and 'outages of fuel nozzles even include up to one-third of a station's capacity.' In previous reports, it was noted that Russia had halted its daily export of 10 million liters of gasoline to Iran and requested that Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan also refrain from sending gasoline to Iran. This has significantly reduced Iran's fuel reserves. The gasoline shortage and new government restrictions announced for vehicle owners have led to widespread reactions on social media. Marzieh Mahmoudi, editor of Tejarat News, tweeted about these restrictions, asking, 'How far will the government intervene in details?' Mohammad Izadi, a political activist, described the plan to set a refueling cap by station owners as 'essentially the same as free fuel rationing,' stating that this is 'a sign of the beginning of a new gasoline crisis in the country.' Shokoufeh Habibzadeh, a journalist, pointed to the gasoline situation in Sistan and Baluchestan, stating that in this province 'there is no purchase of gasoline outside the quota, and the cost of buying gasoline is at the free rate and in 20-liter containers.' According to her, 'prices vary in the north and south of the province,' with 'a 20-liter container selling for 300,000 tomans in Zabol' and 'over 400,000 tomans in Chabahar.' Mehdi Elyasi, an economic journalist, sarcastically referred to previous statements by Islamic Republic officials, suggesting that 'the Islamic Republic will soon reach a point where it announces that people's expectations for water, electricity, gasoline, or bread at any time stem from a luxurious mindset that needs to be corrected.' Hafez Ghazizadeh, a user on the X messaging platform (formerly Twitter), also questioned, 'What benefit does setting a cap on gasoline purchases serve? Other than causing cars to return to the station multiple times, creating long queues, and wasting a lot of fuel in those queues?' Ehsan Mazandarani shared an image recounting his experience, stating, 'It’s past one in the morning, and after about 40 minutes, the queue has reached this point. The volume of gasoline consumed in the queues due to the new fuel card restrictions will soon exceed the amount of smuggled fuel.' He advised Iranian officials to 'realistically price gasoline to end this flawed process.' However, some users claim that the Islamic Republic has 'deliberately closed fuel stations' to say 'we don’t have money to buy gasoline' and 'buying gasoline from Russia is expensive,' to persuade society to accept higher gasoline prices. Meanwhile, a Persian Twitter page for Israel published a cartoon addressing the 'gasoline shortage in Iran,' depicting 'Iran's government fund' as a gas station fueling vehicles of 'Hamas, Hezbollah, and Islamic Jihad,' while nothing reaches the Iranian people. In recent days, the price of bread has increased in several provinces of Iran, which some see as a precursor to a rise in gasoline prices. Additionally, Sadegh Zibakalam, a university professor in Iran, previously told Voice of America that he believes the root cause of Iran's economic troubles lies in 'government corruption and inefficiency.'