fuel rationing at the same level for yet another month, without saying when it will begin to lift gasoline sanctions as part of the shift from subsides to cash welfare payments.
The shift had been expected to start with the month of Mehr (September 23), but the government then announced the fuel rationing would remain unchanged for Mehr. Now, it has announced the rationing will remain unchanged for the month of Aban (October 23-November 21). But it hasn’t announced that rationing will change after that.
The government is in the process now of depositing welfare payments electronically into the bank accounts of eligible Iranians. But it has said nothing can be withdrawn from the accounts until the government frees up the funds.
So the whole schedule for the shift remains just as mysterious as before.
Iranians will continue this next month to get 60 liters (13 gallons) of gasoline for 1,000 rials a liter or about 38 cents a gallon. Beyond that, drivers may buy all they want for what the regime calls the unsubsidized price of 4,000 rials per liter or $1.50 a gallon, even though the wholesale price of imported gasoline is well over $2 a gallon.
The government has said it has stopped importing gasoline as of a few months ago and now produces all the gasoline Iran requires by having converted five petrochemical plants to gasoline production.
Officials have also boasted that Iran now exports gasoline. According to customs statistics, however, Iran exported 32 million liters in the first six months of the Persian year. That amounts to one-half day’s consumption by Iranians, so it is just a token export.