Society
Iranian regime celebrates space launch while energy crisis freezes nation
Iran's energy crisis is rooted in decades of infrastructure neglect, leaving the country unable to meet the population's growing demands.
![Power outage halts work at a Tehran tailor shop, May 23, 2021. [Atta Kenare/AFP]](/gc3/images/2024/12/20/48572-iran-tailor-blackout-370_237.webp)
By Fariba Raad |
As the Iranian regime hails the launch of a satellite into orbit, millions of Iranians are struggling with freezing temperatures and prolonged blackouts amid a crippling energy crisis.
Gas shortages and power rationing have plunged cities into darkness, leaving families without heat in sub-zero temperatures.
While the regime celebrates its space 'achievement,' observers note the irony that as the world's third-largest natural gas producer, Iran cannot meet its citizens' basic energy needs.
The Iranian regime has slashed natural gas supplies to industries by 20% since October, including in Yazd, a key steel production hub, per Tabnak news website.
![Traffic light outages amid an electricity blackout cause chaos at a Tehran intersection on May 23, 2021. [Atta Kenare/AFP]](/gc3/images/2024/12/20/48573-iran-intersection-blackout-370_237.webp)
"This policy has inflicted enormous damage on what was once a lucrative market for steel and cement," said Azerbaijan-based energy expert Dalga Khatinoglu.
"The government does not seem to realize that the policies will soon paralyze the economy," he told Pishtaz.
Decades of mismanagement
Iran loses over 20 billion cubic meters of gas annually through waste, equivalent to $10 billion that could have been reinvested, Khatinoglu noted.
According to the World Bank's 2023 global gas flaring tracker, "increased flaring intensity suggests that there has been a lack of corresponding investment in gas infrastructure and utilization."
Electricity systems also are buckling under the strain.
"Nearly 14% of the country's electricity is wasted in the aging production networks, which amounts to 40% of the electricity consumed by households," Khatinoglu said.
Meanwhile, about 85% of Iran's petroleum products are generated in pre-1979 refineries that operate at reduced capacity, producing primarily bitumen and mazut -- a toxic, environmentally damaging fuel.
Only a small fraction of the output complies with international fuel standards, according to Khatinoglu.
Misplaced priorities
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) now controls up to 50% of oil export revenues, a December 18 Reuters report revealed.
Much of this funds the Iranian regime's regional proxies rather than addressing domestic energy needs.
The regime's decision to prioritize its space program reflects a deepening disconnect between state ambitions and public welfare.
"Diversification of energy sources is crucial," George Mason University senior fellow Umut Shokri told Pishtaz. "Long term planning is required to secure an annual investment of $4 billion for the power industry."
As temperatures drop, so does public tolerance, with some taking to social media to vent their frustrations.
"Fuel shortage in the bitter cold has brought people to the brink of desperation," social media user Khanum Raad wrote on X.
In another post on X, social media user Nima Farzaneh captured the frustration: "14 hours of blackouts in the cold weather. I have nothing else to say."
It is a very good program.
Your news is false and inaccurate... Publish some real news.
No, because it's all fake.
This news is all nonsense, people are paralyzed in the cold without electricity for a few days. They cut off power here and there for two hours a day not the whole city or the whole province together, but for a few days those who had a heating system they were given gas heaters for free. After the gas cut-off was over, people returned the heaters and gas in Iran was not disrupted even for 5 minutes.
Greetings, my grandfather passed away. He said told me, "My dear grandson, always remember that we are not in a position to judge." Then he said, "Remember, don't always believe what you hear. Whenever you see it yourself and can touch it, put yourself in its place, that is when you understand it, maybe you can judge then."
It is true that there is a shortage, but consider that people do not know how to consume properly. I know people who wear summer clothes at home in this cold winter, or if the house gets hot, they open the windows instead of turning down the gas, or turn on the electricity during the day, or do not turn off the electricity when they are not at home. But in Europe, my friends say that they turn off the heating devices when they leave the house in the morning. Currently, 90 percent of Iranian villages have gas, and this is a cause for joy. As for launching satellites, this is a sign of progress that despite the corrosive and backbreaking sanctions and terrorizing Iranian scientists, our young people have achieved this. Or, during the Iran-Iraq war, they did not sell us barbed wire, but now we are producing long-range missiles and drones. There are some problems, but do not be so negative.
I agree with these friends, and I am very grateful to them for bringing the truth to the attention of the Iranian people in every way possible.
This is not the right of people of Iran. Many still don't know how to consume properly.
It was very good.
The corrupt Islamic regime is dragging the nation into poverty and oppression every day, and there is no oppressed nation or individual who can protest against this government's decision-making.
We Iranians sacrifice our pride, dignity, empathy for Iran, our beloved leader, and our honor, and we entrust our families and loved ones to the great God, who has always been behind us in every situation. That is why, big and small, men and women, we all become invincible together. When the enemy saw such a courageous scene, they trembled.