Iranians call gas rations 'just crazy'
Posted: Friday, June 29, 2007 3:50 PM
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Tehran, Iran
By Ali Arouzi, NBC News Producer
"Everyone here knew it was coming, but on Wednesday evening when the government suddenly announced it was enforcing gas rationing at midnight, the move sparked protests across Tehran.
Long lines turned violent at nineteen gas stations in the capital, as customers tried to get as much as they could before the new restriction came into effect, only 26 gallons per car per month.
We were at one gas station when we saw an angry mob set fire to the gas station while chanting derogatory slogans about President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Then the fury of the mob turned its attention to other targets, looting government owned banks and supermarkets.
VIDEO: Rioting over gas rationing
The sheer level of anger and resentment over this issue has seriously undermined the credibility of Ahmadinejad, who was elected two years ago on a platform of delivering Iran’s massive oil wealth to the workingman’s doorstep.
Instead, the opposite has happened. Gas hasn’t delivered any wealth to the average Iranian and instead the price of gas has become more expensive. Parliament voted last month to increase the price of gasoline by 25 percent to 64 cents a gallon.
Restrictions hitting everyone
The effects of the high cost and rationing of gas are wide-raging – from frustrating to affecting people’s bottom line.
"I work in a small office in the north of town and I live in the south of town, so on the way to work I pick up people and drop them off if they are on my route," explained one man named Ahmad who asked that his last name not be used.
"This gives me a little extra cash every month so me and my wife can go for a meal sometimes. But now that they have made it more expensive, I can’t even afford that anymore," he said as he looked at me solemnly through his rear view mirror. "And now with only 26 gallons of rationed gas a month I can’t even drive to work every day."
The new regulation allows private cars 26 gallons of gasoline a month for 64 cents a gallon. Registered taxis are allowed from 118 gallons to 211 gallons a month.
Even ambulances weren’t immune from the rationing; they have been allocated 118 gallons a month.
Even though Iran is one of the world’s largest producers of crude oil, it has been forced to import about 40 percent of its gasoline at an annual cost of $5 billion to make up for its ailing and archaic refining industry. Iran offers the highest subsidies for gasoline in the region, buying foreign gasoline for slightly more than $2 a gallon, according to official figures, and offering it for 64 cents a gallon.
The Iranian government had planned for a year to ration gasoline but had postponed the move, fearing unrest.
Longstanding discount prices have encouraged gasoline consumption in Iran, where many people believe that the vast oil resources make cheap gasoline a basic right.
Feeling the heat
Now that the summer holiday season has arrived, when many Iranians would usually be hopping in their cars to drive to the Caspian Sea, the rationing pinch is felt even more strongly.
"This is just crazy. I can’t believe it," said Jamshid, a married man with two young children who didn’t want to give his last name.
"The kids are on holiday now, so it’s nice to get them out of the city and the flat, go up to the coast and relax a bit. They can play, me and my wife can get away from the stress of Tehran, but we can’t do that anymore," said Jamshid. "I have a jeep that uses a lot of petrol, with the amount of petrol I have been rationed, I’ll barely get out of the city. I don’t even mind paying a little more for it as long as I can have as much as I want."
Some analysts have said that the reason the government suddenly put into effect the rationing – only three hours notice was given – was in preparation for another round of U.N. sanctions over it nuclear program. If the government was to enforce the rationing after sanctions had been imposed, it would look like it had been affected and put under pressure.
Despite a warning to the media to avoid reporting the unrest caused by rationing, the local daily newspapers have continued to criticize the decision. Ahmadinejad is facing growing discontent over his economic policies and is being blamed for failing to deliver on his promises to improve the economy.
