Reza Sepahvand told ILNA that discussions were taking place within the government and the Plan and Budget Organization, but said raising fuel prices while Iran faces war and severe inflation would be “in no way advisable.”
Sepahvand said the government has the legal authority to change energy prices and that officials from the Oil Ministry and the National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company were expected to discuss the issue with lawmakers this week.
“No issue has yet been raised with parliament or the Energy Committee,” he said, adding that lawmakers would seek a clearer answer from ministry officials.
Iran currently sells the first 60 liters of monthly petrol allocated to private cars at 15,000 rials per liter, equivalent to about $0.008 at an open-market exchange rate of about 1.9 million rials to the dollar.
A further 100 liters are available at 30,000 rials per liter, or about $0.016, while additional petrol purchased using station fuel cards costs 50,000 rials per liter, about $0.026.
Sepahvand warned that even from this heavily subsidized base, an increase could push up transport costs and the prices of goods and services.
“Any increase in petrol prices could fuel a new wave of price rises and place additional pressure on people’s livelihoods,” he said.
He urged the government to avoid changing petrol prices while households are already dealing with the economic effects of war and what he described as runaway inflation.
Petrol pricing is one of the most politically dangerous economic issues for the Islamic Republic. Iranian officials have repeatedly approached even limited changes cautiously because higher fuel costs quickly feed into transport, food and other prices, while falling real wages leave households with little capacity to absorb another shock.
The caution is rooted in the nationwide unrest of November 2019. A sudden overnight increase raised the subsidized petrol price by 50% and tripled the price charged above the monthly quota, setting off demonstrations within hours in cities and towns across Iran. The protests quickly broadened from anger over fuel costs into demands directed against the political system.
Authorities responded by cutting Iran off from the global internet for nearly a week and using lethal force against protesters. Amnesty International has documented 321 men, women and children killed by security forces, while Reuters, citing Iranian Interior Ministry officials, reported that about 1,500 people died.
The memory of those protests continues to shape government calculations. A petrol price increase during war and severe inflation would risk being viewed not simply as a fuel-policy change but as another sudden transfer of the state’s economic burden onto households already facing collapsing purchasing power.
