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🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia /Economy & Trade

Iran Raises Petrol Price for Heavier Consumers as U.S. Tightens Economic Pressure

From Asharq Al-Awsat · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources New plan
  • Iran will double the price of petrol in the highest consumption tier to 10,000 tomans per liter from Sept. 8, while prices in the first two tiers remain unchanged.
  • The increase comes as the rial trades above 2.2 million to the U.S. dollar on the black market and Washington expands sanctions against Tehran.
  • The measure affects a heavily subsidized fuel market where price changes carry political sensitivity.

Iranian authorities have raised the petrol price for heavier consumers as the United States increases economic pressure on Tehran. The highest of Iran's three monthly fuel tiers will rise to 10,000 tomans per liter from the morning of Sept. 8, government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani said on Sunday.

Iran's quota system currently charges 1,500 tomans per liter for a consumer's first 60 liters each month, 3,000 tomans for the next 50 liters and 5,000 tomans beyond that. The new measure doubles the third-tier price. Mohajerani later clarified that the first and second tiers would not change.

The rate will increase to 10,000 toman rials from the morning of September 8.

· Fatemeh MohajeraniThe Iranian government spokeswoman announced the new price for the highest petrol consumption tier.

“Different numbers were mentioned in expert meetings, but because the president had promised the people, the rate of 10,000 tomans was set,” Mohajerani said in remarks carried by state media. The toman is an informal unit equivalent to 10 Iranian rials, making the new top-tier price about 4.5 U.S. cents per liter.

Different numbers were mentioned in expert meetings, but because the president had promised the people, the rate of 10,000 tomans was set.

· Fatemeh MohajeraniMohajerani explained how the government settled on the new third-tier price.

Iran produces large quantities of oil and has some of the world's cheapest fuel because the government has heavily subsidized petrol for years. Any change to fuel prices is therefore politically sensitive. The increase also comes as the Iranian currency trades above 2.2 million rials to the dollar on the black market, according to websites tracking the exchange rate. The rial traded at about 1.7 million to the dollar before the Middle East war began on Feb. 28 and reached 1.8 million in late April, then a record low at that time.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said late last month that Washington planned the “economic asphyxiation” of Iran to use financial pressure to hasten an end to the war. The measures build on U.S. and allied sanctions imposed since 2018, after President Donald Trump withdrew from an international nuclear agreement with Tehran. The United States has also placed Iranian ports under a naval blockade in an effort to reduce the country's oil exports to zero.

economic asphyxiation

· Scott BessentThe U.S. Treasury secretary used the phrase to describe Washington's plans for financial pressure on Iran.
About this summary

Originally published by Asharq Al-Awsat in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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