The creeping increase in the price of gasoline is a very disturbing news for Iran’s society, especially for the low-income classes and marginalized people.
According to the state media, the government last year earned 300.8 trillion rials from rationed gasoline, 336.01 trillion rials from free-market gasoline, and 31.5 trillion rials from premium gasoline.
On August 16, Hammihan newspaper wrote, “Taking into account the expenses that are predicted against the sources of Note 14, i.e. the revenues from the sale of petroleum products, according to the estimates of research centers, there is a deficit of between 390 to 640 trillion rials only in this Note. In total, the expenditure and income of the budget and the deficit figures reach over four quadrillion rials. ”
By considering the preceding issue, the government is trying to compensate for its budget deficit by increasing the price of gasoline. And the reason the regime lets it become public, is because of the fear of a social explosion with an uprising that would be much more explosive than November 2019 one.
On the one hand, regime officials try to claim that everything about fuel is normal and deny any kind of price increase. Officials attribute recent reports pertaining to problems at fuel stations to rumors made by regime’s enemies, especially by People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK).
On August 16, the semi-official ISNA news agency wrote, “What is clear is that sometimes unprofessional statements of officials become fodder for foreign media and PMOI’s news channels. Today, the method of psychological operation of foreign media is not hidden from anyone.
The use of non-expert statements of the officials will be utilized instrumentally as a psychological tactic by foreign media and PMOI’s channels. But looking at the society, it becomes clear that there are astronomical distances between on what they magnify and the reality.”
Despite the trifling statements made by different officials about fuel price, by looking at the society one could see the reality is different than what they announce. On August 15, Hamshahri newspaper reported that “in front of some gas stations in the capital, there are long queues as late as midnight.”
On August 15, the Telegram Channel “Tehran Province Super Gasoline” reported that only on Tuesday in Tehran, in small town of Mahalati, several kilometers of queues were formed to get supreme gasoline, and after an hour, the stations declared it has run out of fuel.
In Velenjak district, supreme gasoline has not been provided to the station holders, and according to the residents, due to the lack of gasoline, this fuel is provided to the people every other day.
In Parveen Square in Tehran Pars and in Lower Velanjak, gas stations are closed and no fuel of any sort are distributed. There was a long line to get gas at the lower part of Velanjak.
Unusual and very long queues were formed in the Hakime Pasha area.
Fuel has been used up at Dolat Street, Mufteh Street, Ferdowsi Street, Shariati Bahar Shiraz, Pirouzi Street, and Panj Air Force Street.
In Apadana area and West Terminal, people queued for at least half an hour to get fuel.
On the same day, according to the report of “Shiraz Supreme Gasoline” Telegram Channel, in the early hours of the day, many gas stations had no supreme gasoline.
Long queues were not only due to rumors, because in addition to report from regime sources, social networks are full of posts and reports implying there is a critical situation and there is a serious problem of lack of fuel in gas stations.
People have every right based on their bitter tangible experiences in the past, not to trust the denials and false statements made by the government.
The statements Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, the Speaker of the Majlis (parliament), leave no doubt that the people’s assessment is right.
On August 14, Qalibaf said, “Consumption of diesel at 3,000 rials per liter is… free… Today, we really need to make brave, rational, and wise decisions, these decisions are hard and sometimes are bitter decisions that we have to accept them. However, we must take these decisions to create this opportunity even though involves risk.”
“Difficult and risky decisions” is the nickname for the of religious fascism’ deadlock. Hence, the regime’s solution to cover the expenses of repression is to reach into the people’s pockets, but at the same, it is frightened from people’s potent anger.
This creeping move of raising the price of bread and gasoline is a dangerous game, like playing with dynamite that will ignite an uprising with power to burn down the regime in its entirety.
Source » mojahedin