Masoud Pezeshkian: Raising gasoline prices all at once would throw society into disarray

Masoud Pezeshkian, president of the Islamic Republic, said on Monday, 12 October 2026, at the opening ceremony of the academic year at Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran that everyone knows the real price of gasoline is not 1,500 tomans, but that a sudden increase in the price of gasoline would throw society into disarray. According to Voice of America, he said: "If we want to intervene all at once, we will throw the whole of society into disarray."

Pezeshkian also said that transport costs alone amount to 5,000 tomans per litre of gasoline, and asked how people could be brought on board and the benefits of price reform delivered fairly to everyone. In the speech he did not announce any specific decision to change the price of gasoline.

Gasoline prices and the production shortfall

Gasoline in Iran now has three rates: 1,500 tomans per litre for the first quota of 60 litres, 3,000 tomans per litre for the second quota of 50 litres, and 10,000 tomans per litre at the free rate. According to Voice of America, the government's main problem is a shortage of supply: in early Shahrivar (late August), daily gasoline production was about 115 million litres while consumption reached 132 million litres, a daily shortfall of nearly 17 million litres. Mohammad Jafar Ghaempanah, Pezeshkian's executive deputy, said on 26 August that with the US naval blockade continuing, importing gasoline is not possible.

At the same time, the Islamic Republic's oil exports have effectively stopped and the foreign currency income needed for imports has fallen; US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had spoken of the Islamic Republic's oil exports falling to zero.

The claim about gasoline costs and the experience of November 2019

Officials of Pezeshkian's government have repeatedly pointed to high gasoline costs to justify a price increase. In November 2025, Ghaempanah said each litre of gasoline costs the government 34,000 tomans. But an Iran International review of refinery financial statements showed that the real cost of producing a litre of gasoline, excluding feedstock, is about 3,500 tomans, nearly 90 percent less than the announced figure.

The sensitivity of gasoline prices in Iran dates back to the protests of November 2019; the sudden rise in gasoline prices at that time led to nationwide protests that were met with a bloody crackdown. According to reports, hundreds of people were killed, and some estimates put the death toll as high as 1,500.

Pezeshkian talks about the cost of gasoline while the daily shortfall stands at about 17 million litres and the naval blockade has closed the route for imports.

Sources

• Voice of America
• Iran International