Iran’s Islamist rulers, who sparked deadly domestic unrest by raising gas prices in November, say their controversial move also has failed to ease fuel smuggling into neighboring countries such as Pakistan, largely because smugglers have shifted to diesel fuel from gasoline.
Iranian authorities tripled the unsubsidized price of gasoline Nov. 15 from 7 to 21 cents per liter, based on Iran’s latest unofficial rial/dollar exchange rate of 139,700 published by Bonbast.com.
The gas price hike, imposed as Iran’s finances worsened under U.S. sanctions, triggered days of nationwide street protests that authorities crushed in a violent crackdown, killing at least 1,500 people, according to U.S. officials. Iran has called that figure exaggerated without disclosing its own death toll.
Gas prices in Iran, a major global oil producer, have long been among the lowest in the world, a phenomenon that has spurred decades of smuggling of Iranian fuel into such neighboring countries as Pakistan and Afghanistan, where legally sold fuel has been relatively expensive. Iran’s government has publicly opposed such smuggling, which robs it of revenue from legal fuel exports.
This article originated in VOA’s Persian Service. It was produced in collaboration with VOA’s Deewa Service and Extremism Watch Desk.
