Iran Fuel Prices Rise 50% amid US Sanctions

Iranian authorities began on Friday rationing gasoline and raising prices up to 50%, prompting protests and long queues at gas stations.

The price of a liter of ordinary gasoline will rise to 15,000 riyals (12.7 US cents), up from 10,000 riyals.

The monthly quota for the private car is set at 60 liters per month, and any additional purchases will cost 30,000 riyals per liter.

The Iranian government, which made the decision to raise the price of gasoline and rationed its distribution, justified the need for cash to cover the urgent needs of 18 million poor families, and provide continued assistance to more than 60 million Iranians.

The move appeared to be a direct implementation of Tuesday's call by President Rouhani to increase taxes on companies and citizens to compensate for the deficit caused by the ban on Iranian oil exports.

With gasoline prices rising inside Iran, observers expect a sharp rise in transport and food prices, which in turn will contribute to the deterioration of living conditions for people whose income is only about $ 200.

Several Iranian cities witnessed protests midnight on Thursday and Friday after the application of the decision to raise fuel prices.

Queues of cars, who refrained from filling fuel at the new prices, lined up to demand the cancellation of the decision.

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Users of Iranian websites circulated numerous pictures and videos showing hundreds of citizens in Isfahan, Ahvaz, and Urmia, standing in long queues at the stations, while large numbers of security forces and riot units deployed near the stations.

Despite its huge energy reserves, Iran has for years struggled to meet its domestic fuel needs because of a lack of refining capacity and international sanctions that limited the supply of spare parts for plant maintenance.

According to IRNA, low gasoline prices have led to high consumption at an average of 90 million liters per day.

Also, depreciation of the currency led to high levels of smuggling estimated at around 10-20 million liters daily, IRNA added.

Iran is facing a major economic crisis amid US sanctions, as the government is considering the dilemma of the decline in the share of crude oil in the budget of Iran's next year.

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