Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07IRANRPODUBAI43
2007-06-28 04:39:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Iran RPO Dubai
Cable title:  

TIMING OF IRAN'S GASOLINE RATIONING TAKES ALL BY SURPRISE

Tags:  ECON ENGR EPET PGOV IR 
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TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0139
INFO RUCNIRA/IRAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHDIR/IRAN RPO DUBAI PRIORITY 0132
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEHDE/AMCONSUL DUBAI PRIORITY 0123
RUEHAD/USDAO ABU DHABI TC
RUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI PRIORITY 0089
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 IRAN RPO DUBAI 000043 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 6/27/2017
TAGS: ECON ENGR EPET PGOV IR
SUBJECT: TIMING OF IRAN'S GASOLINE RATIONING TAKES ALL BY SURPRISE

REF: A.) RPO Dubai 0015; B.) RPO Dubai 0037

RPO DUBAI 00000043 001.2 OF 003


CLASSIFIED BY: Jillian Burns, Director, Iran Regional Presence
Office - Dubai, Department of State.
REASON: 1.4 (d)
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 IRAN RPO DUBAI 000043

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 6/27/2017
TAGS: ECON ENGR EPET PGOV IR
SUBJECT: TIMING OF IRAN'S GASOLINE RATIONING TAKES ALL BY SURPRISE

REF: A.) RPO Dubai 0015; B.) RPO Dubai 0037

RPO DUBAI 00000043 001.2 OF 003


CLASSIFIED BY: Jillian Burns, Director, Iran Regional Presence
Office - Dubai, Department of State.
REASON: 1.4 (d)

1.(C) Summary: In a surprise move, the oil ministry announced
the evening of June 26 that gasoline rationing would begin in
Iran at midnight, with a limit for private citizens of 100
liters of gasoline per month. According to reports by AFP and
BBC, the announcement sparked protests, particularly by angry
youths, and resulted in long lines at gas tanks, as well as
fires at two gas stations in Tehran. Deputy Majles speaker
Bahonar said on Iranian TV that the reason that rationing was
implemented without warning was for safety concerns; hoarding
gasoline would be a potential fire risk. Iranian analysts
agreed the Iranian government had "no choice but to" implement
rationing for economic and security reasons, given the huge sums
Iran was spending on gasoline subsidies and Iran's vulnerability
to a gasoline embargo, but predicted corruption would result.
Last month, the government raised gasoline prices by 25% in an
attempt to reduce consumption. It will be telling how the
government reacts to these protests over rationing, how long the
protests last, and how rationing will impact public opinion
towards the government. End Summary

2.(C) In a move that surprised the Iranian population and Iran
analysts, the oil ministry announced with only a few hours
notice on June 26 that gasoline rationing would begin at
midnight. While the government had been making noises about
implementing rationing, the start date has been delayed several
times, and it was not clear whether the government would
implement it all, given public resistance.

Risky political decision
--------------

3.(C) In response to the announcement of rationing, angry
Iranian "youths" reportedly attacked a petrol station in the
Pounak area of northwest Tehran, burning a car and pumps,
witnesses said. The same youths threw stones and shouted
slogans denouncing President Ahmadi-Nejad. An Iranian

journalist told AFP that another gas station in the south of
Tehran was attacked in the Azadi area. Anti-riot police were
called in to disperse the demonstrators, according to AFP. BBC
reported that violence broke out in nine separate areas of
Tehran, it is assumed that the petrol station fires are included
in the alleged "areas" of violence. One Iranian professor told
IRPoffs recently that a primary motivation for the rounding up
of "thugs" over the past few months was in preparation for the
implementation of rationing. These "thugs" are reportedly those
people suspected by police of being likely to lead street
rioting.

4.(C) While foreign press has reported on the alleged fires and
protests by Iranian youth in reaction to the rationing, Iranian
news agencies have mainly focused on the details of the
announcement itself. The sole exception seen so far is Iranian
state radio which noted long lines of cars waiting to fuel-up
prior to the midnight deadline. Its account de-emphasized any
violence and said car owners were filling up their tanks,
emptying them into portable containers, and getting back in
line. The report also complained of incessant honking of car
horns. Other Iranian news reports mention long lines at fuel
pumps in Tehran and elsewhere, but little else regarding public
reaction.

First price hike; now rationing
--------------

5.(U) On May 22, the government raised the price of gasoline by
25% -- although gasoline is still cheaper than water in Iran --
to try to stem high levels of consumption. It also implemented
use of smartcards required for purchasing gasoline (reftels).
The government initiated limited rationing June 14, limiting
government vehicles to 10 liters of gasoline a day. Full
rationing was supposed to be implemented at the same time in May
but was delayed several times. The last official statement
indicated late July, preempted by the June 26 surprise
announcement.

6.(U) Iranian state television announced that the following
quotas would be in place:

-- Personal vehicles: 100 liters of gasoline per month
-- Government vehicles: 300 liters per month.
-- Taxis: 800 liters per month.

RPO DUBAI 00000043 002.2 OF 003


-- Personal people carriers: 600 liters per month.
-- Agency petrol vehicles: 450 liters a month.
-- Driving school vehicles: 450 liters a month.
-- Ambulances: 450 liters a month.
-- Peykan [Old Hillman cars assembled in Iran] minivans and
"Mazda": 1,000 liters a month.
-- Toyota 1600 and Mazda 2000: 450 liters a month.
-- Nissan and Zamyad and tractors of Saypa variety, trucks,
minivans, buses, minibuses, trailers and auto-camping vehicles:
600 liters a month.
-- Diplomatic vehicles: 600 liters a month.

7.(U) The Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported that Oil
Minister Kazem Vaziri-Hameneh was summoned to the Majles to
answer questions on the rationing. Quoting Vaziri-Hameneh, IRNA
explained that the system would initially be in place for three
months, after which time the government would evaluate
rationing. Deputy Majles speaker Mohammed Reza Bahonar said on
Iranian TV that more lead-time was not given as there were fears
that people might stockpile petrol and cause safety concerns.
Rooz Online reported a week earlier that over 200 fires had
broken out in Tehran over the last week alone allegedly caused
by people hoarding gasoline in their homes in anticipation of
rationing.

Wise economic decision
--------------

8.(S) In the run-up to the rationing, IRPoffs discussed the
petrol rationing system, in separate meetings, with an Iranian
economist, a consultant who worked on the smartcard system for
gasoline rationing, and a Tehran-based political analyst. All
agreed that maintaining current levels of gasoline subsidies was
not viable, costing the government approximately $30 billion,
reportedly almost half of its overall expenditures for
subsidies. Iran reportedly spends $70 billion annually on
subsidies, or a third of its GNP. While Iran is the fourth
largest oil exporter, it is the second largest gasoline
importer, on a net volume basis.

9.(S) An Iranian economist said he is generally opposed to
rationing because it often leads to corruption and smuggling,
but he admitted that "something must be done" to curb Iranian
government spending on gasoline subsidies. Prior to the June 26
announcement, the economist claimed Ahmadi-Nejad did not "have
the stomach" to implement a rationing system. "If he did,"
continued the economist, "it would outweigh all the damage he's
done to the economy over the last two years." Unfortunately, he
said, rationing would likely place a much higher burden on
law-abiding citizens, but only be a nuisance for others. He
claimed that 70,000 people have already been identified in
Tehran as needing "extra" gasoline as they are involved in the
public transportation sector, i.e. taxis, buses, etc. He
clearly believed that a large portion of the individuals should
not qualify for such a program. (Note: many Iranians use their
cars as unofficial taxis as a second job to make ends meet.
Endnote) The economist added that despite the fact that
smartcard usage was "enforced" as of May 22 (reftels),there are
still pumps that do not enforce the card rule, and it is easy to
use someone else's card.

10.(S) A Tehran-based political analyst claimed that
Ahmadi-Nejad had no choice but to implement a rationing system.
The analyst said that for both economic and security reasons, a
rationing system must be enforced. He claimed that the amount
of money that the government spends annually on gasoline
subsidies equals or exceeds the budget of the Ministry of
Education and could easily pay the salary increases that Iranian
teachers' associations demanded during strikes this year.
Iran's representative to OPEC Hossein Kasempour Ardebili
publicly laid out Iran's security issues regarding gasoline,
saying June 19 that Iran is concerned about its vulnerability to
potential US action to cut off its gasoline supplies. Ardebili
told Sharq newspaper that Iran needs to adopt appropriate
measures to address this concern, saying "the domestic
consumption, for example, must be lowered as much as possible."

11.(U) Implementing a rationing system without a scheme in place
to meet excess demand would cause a black market to spring up
overnight, claimed journalist Hamed Qoddusi in a June 14 Sharq
article. Qoddusi advocated private-sector control of a
secondary-market that would meet gasoline needs - at a market
determined price - should individuals require additional
gasoline above and beyond the rationed allotments.

Technology behind rationing

RPO DUBAI 00000043 003.2 OF 003


--------------

12.(S) Two years and $80 million dollars later, Iran has a
system in place to facilitate the rationing of gasoline, said an
Iranian economist. The technology used to set up the system,
however, is fairly outdated, alleged a consultant who claimed to
have worked on the project. He was doubtful the smartcard could
be used for complex pricing schemes. The consultant said that
the "data dumps" from the separate pump stations to the main
database are not on-line, but only done via satellite up-link
periodically. However, the consultant claimed that the Iranian
government deserves some credit for installing the technology
throughout the entire country, even in the most rural of areas.
Furthermore, consumers will be able to set up debit accounts
linked to their smartcards to pay for gasoline purchases. He
also noted that there exists the potential that intelligence
services will now be able to track people's movements by
tracking use of their smartcards (Note: Iran does not currently
have credit cards. Endnote).

13.(C) Comment. Iranians in Dubai have heard that "the capital
city is shut down today," July 27, because of the reaction to
rationing, but we do not know yet whether this is an
exaggeration. Negative public reaction to rationing,
particularly as other economic indicators worsen, was to be
expected, and is probably the main reason the government has put
off this decision for years. It is likely that the threat of a
foreign embargo on gasoline imports is the primary motivator for
swallowing the poison now, particularly for a president who
promised to economic justice. The immediate issue to follow is
how efficiently the government puts down protests, and by what
means, as well as whether the themes of any further protests are
generically anti-rationing or become more focused on the
president. At a recent university protest against
Ahmadi-Nejad, the government took no action initially but
arrested the offenders several months later.

14.(C) Comment continued: In any case, gasoline rationing is a
healthy and overdue step for Iran's economy, whatever the
motivation. It will not come without a cost, however. A
gasoline ration brought about by the Iranian government as
opposed to by the international community will likely increase
the government's unpopularity; a rise in gasoline prices
triggered by a foreign-imposed boycott could, conversely, boost
solidarity with the government.
BURNS