Ardeshir Dadras, the head of the Iran CNG Association, has stated that Russia’s obstruction of Iran’s gas extraction from the Sardar Jangal field is among the factors contributing to “imbalances in gas production and consumption” in the country.
On January 2, Dadras criticized the “mismanagement and lack of foresight” of government officials, calling Iran the world’s largest gas subsidy provider and stated, “Russia does not allow Iran to extract gas from the eight wells of the Sardar Jangal gas field in the Caspian Sea.”
According to the regime’s Eghtesadonline website, Ardashir Dadras has stated that insufficient investment and development in gas extraction have created a “critical imbalance” in this sector over the next ten years and has announced that a $60 billion investment is necessary to overcome this crisis.
This industry official had previously stated that based on an agreement between Iran and Russia, the Iranian regime does not have the right to extract gas from the gas wells of the Sardar Jangal field in the Caspian Sea as long as Iran’s gas production is positive relative to its domestic consumption.
According to the head of the CNG Association, gas extraction from the Caspian Sea would enable Iran to surpass Russia in terms of the world’s largest gas reserves and become the largest gas holder.
Despite being the second-largest holder of gas reserves in the world, Iran’s natural gas shortage has led to the burning of mazut in power plants and increased air pollution in various cities across the country.
Daryush Golalizadeh, the head of the National Center for Air and Climate Change at the Environmental Protection Organization, has announced the death toll due to air pollution, stating that more than 26,000 people in 33 cities have lost their lives due to air pollution since 2022.
Citing Masoud Mardani, a professor at Tehran University of Medical Sciences, the state-run Fars News Agency reported, “Air pollution is even more harmful than COVID-19 because if we look at the consequences of air pollution, we see infectious diseases, respiratory diseases, diseases that affect the central nervous system, and cancer.”
However, instead of finding a solution and addressing the issue fundamentally, the regime tends to cover up the problem. In the midst of intensifying air pollution in Tehran, the media reported a malfunction in Tehran’s air pollution index website, writing, “It is not clear what caused the website to malfunction.” Based on this, the regime’s Fararu website titled, “Has Tehran’s Air Pollution Index Website Failed or Has It Been Disabled?”
Earlier, Arash Najafi, the head of the Energy Commission of the Chamber of Commerce, had warned about the imbalance of 500 million cubic meters of gas in the country in the next two decades, stating that the current approach “poses structural and security challenges.”
