As the Iranian regime continues to struggle with the challenge of supplying electricity, Abbas Aliabadi, the regime’s Minister of Energy, called on the public to invest in Iran’s electricity industry projects as a way to escape the power crisis.
On Saturday, March 22, Aliabadi referred to the Iranian New Year’s theme designated by Ali Khamenei, the regime’s Supreme Leader, as the “Year of Investment for Production.” He stated that the Ministry of Energy is implementing “a specific program to attract small-scale public investments alongside large-scale investments.”
He added that with the establishment of an investment fund in the electricity industry, people will be able to participate in implementing electricity projects, including “major and strategic renewable energy projects,” by purchasing shares in the fund.
Iran Faces Worsening Power Shortages as Officials Contradict on Electricity Crisis
In his Nowruz (Persian New Year) message, Khamenei, without offering New Year greetings, described the past year as “strange and eventful” and named the new year the “Year of Investment for Production.”
Following this, vice president Mohammad Reza Aref established a special task force to implement this slogan, in line with previous administrations. Iranian media reported that this task force will consist of “executive agencies and related institutions.”
Last year, Khamenei had designated the year as the “Year of Production Leap with Public Participation.” However, economic indicators in Iran declined, the rial depreciated, and rampant inflation severely impacted the lives of citizens, particularly low-income groups.
Overall, the past year (from March 21, 2024, to March 21, 2025) had 291 working days, but some provinces declared 72 days of closures due to gas or electricity shortages.
Masoud Pezeshkian, the Iranian regime’s president, stated on March 15 in a meeting of Tehran Province’s Planning and Development Council regarding energy-related closures: “Only six days of the closures were due to energy shortages. The rest were unrelated, but we shut down industries more frequently.”
A review of regional and national regulations indicates that, contrary to Pezeshkian’s claim, 72 working days in various parts of the country were either fully or partially suspended. This figure does not include additional closures due to the death of Ebrahim Raisi, natural disasters, and other factors.
In recent months, many citizens have staged protests in various parts of the country against the Iranian regime’s inefficiency in energy supply and the frequent power outages.
