New Gasoline Rationing Behind Fires in Tehran

New Gasoline Rationing Behind Widespread Fires in Tehran
Navid Ahmadi - 2007.06.24

A fire at a house in Tehran’s Modarres Freeway inflicted heavy burns on a woman and a child. Fires have increased in Tehran during the past week, as temperatures have gone up and people have begun to store gasoline in their homes, ahead of a new government plan to ration the fuel.

Since last Thursday, more than 200 counts of fires have been reported in Tehran. Though Tehran’s Fire Department has not yet released official figures, one firefighter told Rooz, “In the past five days, the number of our missions to battle fires has increased. Most of the fires are due to explosions connected with gasoline storage.”

The price of gasoline increased by 25 percent two weeks ago, reaching 1000 rials per litre [about 11 cents, up from 9]. The administration of Ahmadinejad initially opposed the idea of a price hike, but was forced to implement it following a Majlis [“Parliament”] bill. Still, another Majlis bill requires the administration to implement a new plan for rationing gasoline consumption. Gasoline rationing officially began last Thursday for all state-owned vehicles: A state-owned vehicle can purchase no more than 10 litres of gasoline per day. The plan has not yet been enforced for private owned vehicles, but people have already begun to store gasoline as the plan is set to kick off this week.

Some Majlis deputies talked about a private meeting they held with the Interior Minister during which the gasoline quota for private vehicles was set to be between 100 and 120 litres per month. The public and the Administration both oppose these numbers. The Administration is also against dual prices for gasoline. The divergent positions on the issue have led the Majlis to send a report to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, asking for his direct orders on the issue. The Supreme Leader’s response: “There is no alternative but to ration gasoline.”

With rumors spreading that quotas for private vehicles are set to be announced today, some have begun to store thousands of litres of gasoline in large tankers. This has caused dozens of fires, as most people store gasoline tankers in their basements, and with higher temperatures in the capital, accidents are prone to repeat themselves.

The most notable recent fire was the one at Tehran’s bazaar, which destroyed several business complexes.