Iran's leader, president support controversial petrol rationing

Jun 30, 2007, 12:59 GMT

Tehran - Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Saturday voiced support for a controversial petrol rationing plan in Iran, state-television IRIB reported.

The supreme leader said in a meeting with government officials that the surplus from the rationing plan and non-import of petrol could be used for other development plans in the country.

Although Iran is a leading OPEC member and the world's fourth biggest oil producer with a daily oil production of 4.2 million barrels, the Islamic state must import more than 40 per cent of the country's petrol needs and spend 5 - 8 billion dollars annually on imports due to a lack of refineries and a preference for oil exports.

The leader however called on the government of President Ahmadinejad to improve its public relations system and inform the public in a more suitable way.

The plan, announced on state television on Tuesday night with less than 90 minutes before the deadline, led to chaos in the capital Tehran where cars rushed to petrol stations to fill their tanks before the start of rationing.

Riots broke out in protest against the decision, and several petrol stations were set on fire.

Khamenei also called for the removal of problems related to the plan such as increasing the quota - 100 litres per month at 0.108 dollars per litre for normal and 0.151 dollars for super petrol - for those people who need more than the 100 litres due to their jobs.

Ahmadinejad defended the plan as a complex decision that required national will to help the country gain invulnerability to international threats.

Iranian officials had earlier said the plan should also be regarded as a precautionary move in case of United Nations Security Council sanctions against Iran over its controversial nuclear projects.

Ahmadinejad further called for a switch from oil to gas in order to further decrease the necessity of oil imports.

Iranian Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri-Hamaneh said Friday that the petrol rationing decision had been approved by the parliament and the government was determined to implement it.

Since rationing took effect on Wednesday, the capital Tehran faced a visible decrease in traffic jams and improvement in air quality, realising two of the main aims of the rationing plan.

But critics say the government must also add previously scheduled additional quotas at higher rates for people whose livelihoods depend on their cars as well as increase public transportation.

The harsh protests confirmed the government's fears that the move would dent Ahmadinejad's popularity before parliamentary elections in March next year and even negatively affect his chances for re- election in 2009.