Winter gas and power cuts are certain, Islamic Republic officials say

Several Islamic Republic officials have said in recent days that gas and power cuts this winter are certain. Mehdi Mahyaei, deputy governor of Golestan, said gas cuts in the three provinces of Golestan, Mazandaran and North Khorasan are "definite" and will last 60 to 90 days.

Salar Vaezi, public relations director of the Electricity Industry Syndicate, said gas supply this year is 13 billion cubic metres lower than last year and that power plants' fuel tanks are not full. He warned that in some provinces electricity and gas will be cut at the same time. Reza Hosseini, director general of passive defence in Golestan, also called gas cuts with the arrival of the first cold wave "certain".

The authorities' solution: electric heaters and fines

According to Mahyaei, the authorities' plan for these three provinces is to distribute 200-watt electric heaters and supply enough electricity to run two 1,000-watt heaters in each home, even as the same officials report fuel shortages at power plants.

Hamid Pourmohammadi, head of the Plan and Budget Organisation, said that if gas pressure drops, gas to an entire city may be cut, and threatened households that exceed the consumption pattern with fines. Mohammad Reza Aref, Masoud Pezeshkian's first vice president, told the Economic Council on Monday, 26 October, that 230 million cubic metres of gas production capacity has been damaged and that gas to high-consumption subscribers will be cut. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has also asked the media and provincial governors to reduce gas consumption by at least 10 percent.

Background to the gas shortage

In the attack of 18 March 2026 on the Asaluyeh gas facilities, about 230 million cubic metres a day of gas refining capacity was knocked out. The head of the National Iranian Gas Company had said about 100 million cubic metres of that would return before winter, meaning at least 130 million cubic metres a day is still lost. Ten provinces have recently held gas cut drills.

Even before the war, the gas shortage in Iran led every winter to power cuts and the closure of offices and schools; Iran holds the world's second-largest gas reserves.

For the coming winter, Islamic Republic officials are promising 200-watt electric heaters instead of gas.