Even before the summer has ended, the CEO of Tavanir (Iran’s Power Generation, Distribution, and Transmission Company) announced that the electricity crisis in Iran will not end anytime soon. Along with unveiling a plan called “Winter Drill,” he said preparations are underway for the cold season. The chain of the energy crisis—from gas to water and electricity—has also affected other sectors such as communications.
Mostafa Rajabi-Mashhadi, on Sunday, September 14, in a meeting on “Managing the Passage of Summer Peak Load,” said that the “serious imbalance in electricity” will not be resolved soon and preparations must be made for the winter season.
He announced the preparation of a plan named “Winter Drill” and said that this year’s fuel situation is better compared to last year, but this does not mean neglecting continuous tasks of consumption management.
Iran’s Electricity Crisis Pits Industry Against Energy Ministry
These remarks in the last week of summer 2025 come as in recent years, the frequency and duration of blackouts have been reported to increase year after year.
The continued power outages this summer, accompanied by water cuts, sparked widespread protests in many cities across the country. The protests even reached small towns such as Khoshk-e Bijar in Gilan province. As in many other protests, Iran’s regime carried out mass arrests of demonstrators.
The blackouts were not only problematic for citizens. According to Ebrahim Sheikh, deputy minister of Industry, Mine, and Trade, despite a sixfold increase in electricity costs for industrialists this summer, the “imbalances” in this sector were not reduced. This has led to disputes between the Ministry of Industry, Mine, and Trade (known as “SAMT”) and the Ministry of Energy within the government.
The widespread blackouts in the summer of 2025 also claimed lives. Reports published in Iranian media about the consequences of repeated outages show that the continuation of blackouts and fluctuations became a deadly threat to patients dependent on electrical equipment, and at least five citizens lost their lives in recent months due to these outages.
At the same time as the Tavanir CEO’s remarks, Mostafa Pourdehghan, a member of the presidium of the parliament’s Industry Commission, referred to disruptions in Iran’s mobile phone network—recently reported to have increased—and attributed the cause to frequent power outages.
Pourdehghan explained: “When we ask the Minister of Communications and Information Technology about it, he responds that on one hand electricity is cut off, and on the other hand, our batteries are worn out and acidic.”
The frequent blackouts, along with the regime’s inability to provide drinking water for citizens, have created a multifaceted crisis. A crisis that officials of Iran’s regime themselves warn is intensifying.
