The Gasoline Troubles That People Consume; The Taliban Also Rejects Iranian Gasoline

The quality of gasoline produced in Iran is no longer accepted even by the Taliban in Afghanistan and officials in Iraq, leading these countries to procure their fuel from other nations at higher prices, unwilling to buy cheap and low-quality Iranian gasoline. This was announced by the head of the Union of Oil Products Exporters in his latest report, stating that Iraq and Afghanistan are seeking gasoline with higher standards. Hamid Hosseini described the quality of Iranian gasoline as low, noting that when the Taliban is also looking to improve the quality of its imports, it indicates that 'these countries no longer accept any goods of any quality.' According to Hosseini, the increase in the quality of desired products in Afghanistan is the reason for the return of Iranian gasoline by the Taliban. The return of Iranian export gasoline to Afghanistan has intensified since the Taliban came to power. In this context, the National Standard Administration of the Taliban rejected seven tankers of gasoline sent from Iran on June 14 of this year. Although after the publication of this news, media close to government and security agencies tried to deny the Iranian origin of the gasoline, reviewing the history of this news shows that the Taliban has seriously pursued the issue of gasoline quality since shortly after taking power in Afghanistan and has repeatedly returned Iranian export gasoline. In this regard, Hamid Hosseini stated on January 3 of last year, after government officials denied the return of 26 tankers of gasoline by the Taliban, that the exported shipment belonged to Iran and that fuel was not being transited from another country. At that time, Mohammad Reza Ghorbani, head of the Fuel Products Transport Committee of the Khorasan Razavi Association of International Transport Companies, also stated in an interview with Tejarat News that Afghanistan recently set 'new standards' for fuel imports into the country, which, according to Ghorbani, has led the Taliban to not allow the import of shipments that do not meet these standards. The rejection of Iranian gasoline by Iraq and Afghanistan comes at a time when reports indicate that nearly 120 million liters of this gasoline are consumed daily in the country, with analysts citing the quality of produced gasoline as one of the main factors contributing to air pollution in the country.