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Aging and Low-EfficiencyPower Plants Worsen Iran’s Electricity Shortage

Jubin Katiraie
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Aging and Low-EfficiencyPower Plants Worsen Iran’s Electricity Shortage

Several organizations active in Iran’s power industry have warned that the country’s electricity shortage in the summer of 2024 will reach 26,000 megawatts, equivalent to over 30% of peak electricity demand during the summer. This report is by Dalga Khatinoglu, an energy expert.

Ali Nikbakht, Chairman of the Board of the Iranian Power Plants Association, has stated that the current summer electricity shortage is between 19,000 to 20,000 megawatts, warning that if no measures are taken now, the shortage will reach 26,000 megawatts next year.

Hamidreza Salehi, Chairman of the Board of the Federation of Energy Exports and Related Industries, along with Hassanali Taghizadeh, Chairman of the Power Syndicate, have recently issued similar warnings.

All three power industry experts believe that not only is it impossible to address the current electricity shortfall in the short term, but there is little hope of even maintaining the current level of imbalance.

Nikbakht also highlighted the aging and deterioration of a significant portion of Iran’s power plant capacity, stating that plants currently out of service for repairs are contributing to the imbalance. Proper planning, including ordering parts two years ago, could have prevented this situation.

He further noted that the nominal capacity of all power plants in the country is currently around 92,000 megawatts: “Of the 15,000 megawatts generated by steam power plants, over 12,000 megawatts are over 30 years old, and among gas plants, 2,700 megawatts are also over 30 years old.”

Thus, 80% of steam power plants and 11% of gas power plants in Iran are effectively outdated. Together, low-efficiency steam and gas plants account for 43% of the country’s total nominal power capacity.

The extent of the deterioration in thermal power plants, combined with the sharp decline in hydroelectric generation due to drought, is so severe that despite around 93,300 megawatts of installed nominal capacity, the actual electricity generation is only about 61,000 megawatts. In other words, 30% of Iran’s electricity production capacity is currently out of service.

The Cause of Iran’s Growing Power Shortage

Iran should have increased its electricity production by at least 7% annually over the past decade to meet the growing demand. However, the last time it achieved this was in 2010. Since then, the country’s electricity consumption has consistently grown at twice the rate of production.

As a result, Iran, which had net electricity exports of 8 terawatt-hours annually until the mid-2010s, is now facing a massive power shortage.

The problem is that Iran now faces electricity shortages not only in the summer but in all seasons.

Government Deflection

On September 5, Hassanali Taghizadeh criticized Iranian regime officials for blaming the public for excessive electricity consumption, stating that household electricity consumption per capita is not only below the global average but about half that of Europe.

Losses in Iran’s outdated transmission and distribution networks amount to 40% of household electricity consumption, a staggering figure that, at current regional electricity prices, equates to an annual loss of four to five billion dollars.

On the other hand, the majority of Iran’s power plants are steam or gas-powered with an efficiency of 29% to 33%, meaning that a significant portion of fossil fuels like gas, diesel, and mazut is lost during the process of electricity generation.

Over the past decade, Iran has been unable to implement plans to convert its steam and gas power plants to combined-cycle systems with 45% efficiency. Currently, combined-cycle plants account for 39% of the country’s nominal power generation capacity.

Low-efficiency steam and gas power plants collectively make up 43% of the country’s electricity generation capacity.

Nuclear power and renewable energy sources each account for 1% of Iran’s total electricity generation capacity.

The rest of the country’s nominal power generation capacity comes from hydroelectric power.

Three Million Tehran Residents Living in High-Risk Subsidence Zones

Mehdi Hosseini
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Three Million Tehran Residents Living in High-Risk Subsidence Zones

Ali Beitollahi, the head of the Risk Management Division of the Road, Housing, and Urban Development Research Center, says the rate of subsidence in Tehran has reached 20 centimeters, and 3 million people in this city live in a “subsidence zone.”

On Wednesday, September 18, Beitollahi told ILNA news agency, “The subsidence zone in Tehran has reached 50 kilometers in length and 30 kilometers in width, and based on studies, including Tehran and its surrounding cities, more than three million people are living in the subsidence area.”

According to this official from the Iranian regime’s Ministry of Roads and Urban Development, in previous years, subsidence in Tehran was only observed in parts of districts 17, 18, and 19 and had not reached its current extent, but now it occupies a vast area.

Beitollahi warned about the consequences of subsidence in Tehran, noting that the presence of fuel reservoirs in subsidence areas could have significant economic as well as social consequences.

According to him, the Rey fuel reservoir, which is the largest supplier of gasoline for Tehran, is located directly on the subsidence zone. The southern Tehran refinery is also situated within this same subsidence area.

He also identified industrial areas as part of the high-risk regions of Tehran, stating that many factories and facilities are located directly on subsidence zones.

Geology experts assess that the mismanagement of water resources is the main reason for the worsening of subsidence in various parts of Iran.

Official reports indicate that at least 14 provinces in Iran are affected by subsidence, with subsidence rates exceeding 10 centimeters.

Previously, the head of the Department of Environment and Sustainable Development at the Tehran Municipality referred to subsidence as a “silent earthquake” or “earth cancer,” stating that “Tehran holds the global record for ground subsidence.”

Despite the threat that subsidence poses to the safety of citizens, a comprehensive solution to address it has yet to be implemented.

Beitollahi had previously criticized the inaction of institutions in addressing subsidence, stating, “There is no provision regarding subsidence in any of the country’s construction laws or regulations.”

Ali Javidaneh, the head of Iran’s National Cartographic Center, also described the phenomenon of land subsidence in May 2024 as a “time bomb,” saying, “We have sent maps of the country’s subsidence zones to the responsible agencies, and these agencies must explain why they are not using this information for their planning and actions.”

The critical situation of land subsidence in Iran is not limited to Tehran and threatens many other major cities and even historical landmarks.

In recent months, experts have also warned about the increasing rate of land subsidence in historical areas and its destructive impact on historical monuments such as Persepolis and Naqsh-e Jahan Square.

Iranian Regime Sentences Two Political Prisoners to Death

Mehdi Hosseini
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Iranian Regime Sentences Two Political Prisoners to Death

The Iranian regime’s judiciary sentenced Behrouz Ehsani and Mehdi Hassani, two political prisoners, supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), the largest opposition group in Iran, to death. The sentence, communicated to the prisoners’ lawyer, was issued by the notorious judge Iman Afshari, head of Branch 26 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court. These two political prisoners were sentenced to death on charges of “armed rebellion, enmity against God, corruption on Earth, membership in the PMOI, gathering classified information, and conspiring against national security.”

Behrouz Ehsani, a 69-year-old political prisoner, was arrested on December 6, 2022, in Tehran and transferred to the Ministry of Intelligence detention center (Ward 209 of Evin Prison), where he was tortured. He is currently being held in Ward 4 of Evin Prison.

Mehdi Hassani, 48, was arrested on September 11, 2022, in Zanjan and transferred to Ward 209 of Evin Prison, where he was subjected to physical and psychological torture. He is currently held in Ward 8 of Evin Prison.

It is worth noting that on April 8, 2024, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) announced the arrest of Behrouz Ehsani and Mehdi Hassani and reported that the regime’s prosecutor had requested the death penalty for several political prisoners, including Hassani and Ehsani.

The issuance of death sentences for these political prisoners comes as over 21 prisons across the country have joined a widespread campaign against executions. This week, the prisoners in the “No to Executions Tuesdays” campaign marked their 34th hunger strike.

Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the president-elect of the NCRI, previously stated that the clerical regime aims to use executions and killings, particularly around the anniversary of the 2022 uprising, to prevent the eruption of public anger against the regime. She added that the regime views the international community’s inaction in the face of the wave of executions as a green light to continue its crimes and violations of international law.

Face And Eyes of Iran’s Regime Ambassador Seriously Injured Due to a Pager Explosion

Mehdi Hosseini
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Face And Eyes of Iran’s Regime Ambassador Seriously Injured Due to a Pager Explosion

On Tuesday, September 17, the state-run Kayhan newspaper wrote on its Telegram channel: “According to reports, contrary to claims that the injuries to Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon were superficial, his face and eyes have been seriously injured.”

Earlier, according to the Rouydad24 website, the editor of Mashregh news had written on the social media platform X that “the ambassador’s eye was severely damaged.”

Meanwhile, the state-run Tasnim news agency quoted “an informed source” stating that Mojtaba Amani-Hamedani was injured in the hand and face due to the explosion of a pager belonging to one of his bodyguards.

He described the overall condition of Iran’s regime ambassador in Beirut as “stable” and added that he is under medical treatment.

After the explosions of pagers in Lebanon, which mainly targeted members of Hezbollah, it was reported that Mojtaba Amani-Hamedani was also injured and transferred to a hospital in Beirut.

According to state media in Iran, images showed that he had been injured in both eyes, face, and hands.

Meanwhile, The New York Times, citing a person described as “a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC),” wrote that pagers distributed by Hezbollah emitted a sound a few seconds before the explosion, causing users to hold them close to their eyes and faces to read the messages.

He said the pager belonging to the Iranian regime’s ambassador in Beirut emitted a sound a few seconds before he picked it up.

According to this report, the ambassador has lost one eye, and his other eye has been severely injured due to the explosion.

Thousands of pager devices exploded simultaneously on Tuesday, September 17, in various regions of Lebanon, particularly in southern Beirut and southern Lebanon—two Hezbollah strongholds. These explosions resulted in at least nine deaths and around 3,000 injuries to different parts of the body.

According to reports, the condition of 200 of the injured is described as “critical.”

Many of the dead and injured were members of Hezbollah, a militia group supported by Iran’s regime.

Lebanese officials, along with Hezbollah, Hamas, and their backer—Iran’s regime—have pointed the finger at Israel. However, Israel has not yet claimed responsibility for these explosions.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, following the explosion of thousands of pagers used by Hezbollah members in Lebanon, the United States urged Iran’s regime to refrain from actions that lead to “further instability” and “increased tensions.”

Price of Consumer Goods Continue to Spike in Iran

Sia Rajabi
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Price of Consumer Goods Continue to Spike in Iran

Ali-Ehsan Zafari, chairman of the Dairy Products Union, announced on Tuesday, September 17, a 25% increase in the price of dairy products due to a 20% rise in the price of raw milk.  

However, Zafari warned that the higher prices for dairy products would not benefit producers but would instead lead to reduced consumption, which in turn would lower production and profitability.  

Zafari added that if these price increases continue, public dairy consumption will decline.  

He pointed out that the solution to preventing this price increase is “government subsidies,” but noted that “the related decree has not yet been officially issued by the government.”  

Referring to the products that will see the biggest price hikes, Zafari added that “products like cheese will experience the largest price increases.”  

He emphasized that “the government must first find a way to stop the rising prices of dairy products,” and added that under these circumstances, subsidies to dairy producers are the only solution.

In recent days and weeks, the price of bread has increased by up to 66% in some provinces of Iran. In this regard, the rise in bread prices in Tehran has led to increased protests.

In this context, labor activist Faramarz Tofighi told the state-run ILNA news agency on September 9: “The occasional price hikes of key factors affecting household living expenses, whether denied or confirmed by officials, have now become routine,” and added, “We usually see these price surges in the second half of each year.”

He mentioned that “in the food sector, we have three strategic goods: oil, sugar, and bread,” and added, “They handle bread, this strategic commodity, so carelessly as if they don’t understand the impact of its rising price on people’s tables.”

Faramarz Tofighi added: “Don’t they realize that other items in people’s food basket have become extremely expensive, forcing the lower classes to rely on bread? The rise in bread prices is another blow to their livelihood.”

Meanwhile, in line with what Iranian regime president Masoud Pezeshkian, along with his economic advisors and some of his ministers, have described as “economic surgery” or giving the people a “bitter medicine,” there is a possibility of an increase in energy prices, especially gasoline.

Some economic experts also predict that water and electricity prices are set to rise, although the Ministry of Energy has not yet officially confirmed this. However, indirect increases have already been applied through utility bills.

Protests By Oil and Gas Workers and Retired Telecommunication Employees in Iran

Jubin Katiraie
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Protests By Oil and Gas Workers and Retired Telecommunication Employees in Iran

Economic protests in Iran continued yesterday with weekly gatherings of retired employees from the Telecommunication Company of Iran in several cities, marches, and protests by oil and gas industry workers in the provinces of Bushehr, Khuzestan, and Hormozgan, as well as a rally of retirees from various organizations in Tehran.  

According to reports on social media on Monday, September 16, a number of protesting retirees from the Telecommunication Company held simultaneous gatherings in several cities, including Tabriz, Isfahan, Ahvaz, Sanandaj, Marivan, and Bijar.  

These retirees are protesting against poor living conditions, wages below the poverty line, ineffective supplementary insurance, the removal of grocery benefits from their job perks, and the failure of major shareholders to implement the 2010 regulations after the privatization of the state-owned Telecommunication Company of Iran.  

The protesting retirees in Khuzestan province also chanted slogans such as “From Khuzestan to Tehran, shame on the oppressors” and “Frozen livelihoods don’t help us.”  

Retired protesters in Kurdistan province also joined the demonstrations.  

The series of protests by Telecommunication Company retirees, which are held simultaneously across various regions of Iran every Monday, were also held this week in other cities, including Isfahan, Tabriz, and Marivan.  

Protests by Retired Telecommunication Employees in Tabriz

The weekly protests by Telecommunication Company retirees have been ongoing for months. Key reasons for these protests include the failure to update welfare allowances in 2022 and 2023 and the non-payment of previous years’ dues at current rates.  

Protests by Retired Telecommunication Employees in Isfahan and Kurdistan 

The executive regulations of Article 24 of the Civil Service Law, passed in 2010, pertain to the tasks that can be outsourced and how services can be procured from the private sector. According to these regulations, until the obstacles to privatization are removed, the provision of services to the workforce remains the responsibility of the government. However, 14 years after the regulation’s approval and despite continuous and repeated protests by these retirees, it appears that neither have the privatization barriers been resolved, nor has the government fulfilled its responsibilities toward the protesters.  

Protests by Oil and Gas Industry Workers

In another event, workers at petrochemical terminals and storage facilities in Bandar Mahshahr, Khuzestan province, held a protest.  

According to the Iranian Retirees Council, the reasons for this protest include the “failure to implement employee status conversion in line with neighboring companies, non-payment of petro-cards, deductions from productivity bonuses, failure to implement the job classification plan for contract employees, and repeated issues with timely payment of social insurance.”  

Additionally, a number of workers from the Fajr Jam Gas Refinery in Bushehr and Pars Oil and Gas Company in Assaluyeh held protests and marches on Monday to express their dissatisfaction with unfulfilled contracts and deductions from their payments.  

At the protest, workers chanted slogans such as “Employment contracts must be implemented, illegitimate deductions must be canceled.”  

Protests by oil and gas industry workers have also taken place in previous days.  

The expansion of labor protests among various groups, including retirees, workers from different industries, teachers, defrauded investors, nurses, and healthcare workers, reflects the growing economic challenges in Iran and the disregard of Iranian regime officials.

The Head of Iran’s Pharmacists’ Association: Over 60% of Domestically Produced Medicines Are “Low-Quality”

Mehdi Hosseini
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The Head of Iran’s Pharmacists’ Association: Over 60% of Domestically Produced Medicines Are “Low-Quality”

Bahman Sabour, the head of the Pharmacists’ Association, says that the Iranian government purchases and sets prices for over 60% of the medicines produced by domestic pharmaceutical companies, and this is the main reason for the low quality of these drugs.  

On Saturday, September 14, Sabour told Rokna news agency that “the majority of medicines are produced under fixed pricing.” For products without price regulation, “the producer sets the price based on the materials used and the production cycle costs.”  

Sabour further added that patients compare domestically produced medicines to a dish missing its key ingredient, saying, “Domestic medicines meet the minimum standards, while foreign medicines are above the normal standard.”  

Meanwhile, drug production in Iran is facing a crisis due to the lack of liquidity to purchase raw materials for manufacturing plants.  

Following increased criticism of the critical situation regarding medicine, on August 9, Mohammad Jafar Ghaempanah, Executive Vice President and acting head of the Presidential Institution, announced that Massoud Pezeshkian had ordered the head of the Central Bank to resolve the liquidity issue for the supply of raw materials for pharmaceutical factories and the import of medicine.  

Earlier in May, the regime’s president, Massoud Pezeshkian, who at the time was still a member of the Health and Medical Commission of the regime’s Majlids (Parliament), revealed that the government owed  6 trillion rials (nearly $1 billion) to pharmaceutical companies.  

A month after Pezeshkian’s remarks, Mohammad Ali Bandpay, a member of the Health and Medical Commission’s presidium, warned that medicine had become a “crisis,” announcing that the number of scarce medicines had surpassed 200 types.  

Poverty On the Rise Among Iran’s Employed Population

Hoshang Amiri
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Poverty On the Rise Among Iran’s Employed Population

Tasnim News Agency, affiliated with Iran’s security institutions, reviewed the economic events of the past two decades and reported that since 2018, the pace of poverty has accelerated, with an increasing number of employed individuals falling into poverty.

Tasnim emphasized that the economic conditions are such that the workforce, which serves as the engine of the country’s productivity, is abandoning labor jobs and turning to other occupations, many of which are informal or precarious jobs. Labor activists have repeatedly sounded the alarm, warning that this marks the beginning of a growing wave of poverty across the country.

Tasnim, citing Zahra Kaviani, a member of the Research Center of the Iranian Parliament, wrote: “Since 2006, the poverty rate has been gradually rising, reaching around 20% by 2011.”

According to Kaviani, the estimated poverty line for a family of three in Tehran in 2024 is around 200 million rials (approximately $334). Tasnim compared this figure with the minimum wage for workers in 2024, which is 111 million and 70 thousand rials (about $186), noting that efforts to reduce the poverty rate have been unsuccessful.

In this context, Ahmad Meidari, the Minister of Labor, also stated that those living in absolute poverty are employed, but their income is insufficient to meet their needs.

In a research seminar on poverty, Zahra Kaviani also noted, “The likelihood of escaping poverty has diminished, meaning we have witnessed a decline in poverty mobility. In the past four years, about 50% of the poor have remained below the poverty line for three consecutive years.”

Kaviani explained that a family living below the poverty line may reduce its expenses, such as children’s expenses, and try to compensate the following year. However, a family that remains below the poverty line for several consecutive years may decide that their child should drop out of school or become a child laborer, which ultimately leads to intergenerational poverty.

Farshad Esmaeili, a lawyer and social security expert, also reported the feminization of poverty in society, stating that more than 50% of female heads of households are in the first and second income deciles, with 75% supporting one to three people, and 70% of them have no social activity.

On Sunday, September 15, Shargh newspaper wrote, “The continuation of income poverty not only causes harm on its own and has social consequences, but it also spills over into multidimensional poverty, turning children who drop out of school into the future poor.”

Shargh emphasized in its report that “this deepens the cycle of poverty and leads to intergenerational poverty; thus, it is expected that if the situation continues, we will see an increase in the number of poor people in the future, along with a worsening of their living conditions.”

Amirhossein Moradi And Ali Younesi on Mahsa’s Anniversary: A Spark Can Ignite The “Uprising Until Khamenei’s Overthrow”

Esmaeil Mohades
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Amirhossein Moradi And Ali Younesi on Mahsa’s Anniversary: A Spark Can Ignite The “Uprising Until Khamenei’s Overthrow”

Coinciding with the second anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death in the custody of the Morality Police and the start of the 2022 nationwide protests in Iran, Amirhossein Moradi and Ali Younesi, two imprisoned students, emphasized that “from universities and schools to the streets,” the ultimate goal of the “bloody pledge” is the “overthrow of Khamenei.”

In this message, which was shared on X on Sunday, September 15, the anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death under the Morality Police’s custody, Moradi and Younesi described the 2022 nationwide protests as “the brave uprising of the Iranian people.” They stated, “On the eve of the new academic year, which is intertwined with bloody days but brilliant battles, to our fellow students from universities to the streets, to all those who believe they must stay and reclaim, to those who turned the streets into universities of resistance, to those who could not return to their second homes (schools and universities), to those who this year are shouldering the responsibility in the trenches of freedom, to all our comrades behind prison bars who were never separated from us—we stand beside you still.”

These two imprisoned students, declaring that “our generation is the generation of uprisings,” added that this generation “fought wholeheartedly in Mahsa’s uprising,” and despite arrests and deaths, “it did not and will not surrender.”

Moradi and Younesi stressed that the entry of the generation of students from the 2022 nationwide protests into universities, and their experience of that “uprising,” has turned this into a “nightmare for the regime as the new school year begins” and from now on, the regime must “expect a response from schools and universities for every crime.”

In the statement released by these two imprisoned students on the second anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death and the start of the 2022 nationwide protests, they recalled how Masoud Pezeshkian, the regime’s new president, “deceptively claimed that students have the right to protest.” They emphasized, “But he didn’t say what happens to students after they protest! Yes, we do have this right, whether he hypocritically admits it or not.”

These two political prisoners, reaffirming their commitment to republicanism, declared that “the people’s right to sovereignty and democracy” is “the most fundamental right,” and added that they “will achieve it alongside the people at any cost.”

Amirhossein Moradi and Ali Younesi further stated, “The powder keg of anger and hatred, built up by executions, massacres, and oppression, only needs a spark to explode—a spark that can be ignited in a school or university and trigger a nationwide uprising that will not end until Khamenei is overthrown.”

Amirhossein Moradi is a physics student and a winner of the Astronomy Olympiad, and Ali Younesi is a computer science student who won the gold medal in the Astronomy and Astrophysics Olympiad in 2017.

Mahsa (Jina) Amini died on September 15, 2022, a few days after being arrested by the Morality Police, at Kasra Hospital in Tehran. Her death sparked a widespread wave of protests across Iran that continued for months in the streets, universities, and schools.

During the suppression of the 2022 nationwide protests by government forces, at least 750 civilians were killed, and thousands were injured and arrested.

Red Meat Consumption In Iran Has Fallen Below 600,000 Tons Per Year

Mehdi Hosseini
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Red Meat Consumption In Iran Has Fallen Below 600,000 Tons Per Year

Ahmad Shad, Secretary of the Association of Raw Animal Product Importers, states that the annual consumption of red meat in Iran has dropped to less than 600,000 tons per year.

On Sunday, September 15, in an interview with ILNA news agency, Shad called the current statistics on meat consumption in Iran inaccurate and said: “According to unofficial statistics, the country’s meat consumption is between 850,000 and 1 million tons annually, but our estimates suggest a lower figure.”

According to Shad, there are no reliable statistics on meat consumption in the country, but estimates based on imports and slaughtered livestock indicate that the annual consumption of red meat, including both light and heavy livestock, has fallen below 600,000 tons.

He added, “The people of Iran consumed more meat in past years, but since 2021, consumption has been declining.”

Meanwhile, according to estimates from the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Iranians consumed 335,000 tons of lamb and 382,000 tons of beef last year.

Thus, based on these estimates, Iran’s red meat consumption last year was less than 720,000 tons.

Domestic statistics on meat consumption per capita in Iran vary. In May 2023, Masoud Rasouli, Secretary of the Meat and Protein Packaging Industry Association, reported a decrease in per capita meat consumption to four kilograms per year.

Some reports and calculations published in domestic media have even placed this figure at around three kilograms.

According to estimates from the Iranian Statistics Center, per capita meat consumption in Iran was around 13 kilograms per year in 2011, which decreased to eight kilograms by 2019.

These combined data show that red meat consumption in Iran has significantly decreased over the past decade, with per capita consumption last year down about 35% compared to 2011.

The significant drop in red meat consumption in Iran has coincided with rising inflation, and meat prices have been leading food inflation in recent official reports.

Data released by the Statistics Center of Iran shows that in August 2024, the inflation rate for food and beverages reached 34.8%, with the highest inflation among food items related to the “red meat and poultry” group.

The annual inflation for this group was reported to be 58.3% by the Statistics Center.

Nutrition experts have warned in recent years about the health consequences of reduced protein consumption among Iranians.

A former official from the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare also warned last year, citing new statistics on “malnutrition” among the Iranian population, that a “humanitarian catastrophe” is unfolding in the country.

Last year, the Research Center of the Iranian regime’s Majlis (Parliament) reported that in 2022, the calorie intake of half of the Iranian population was below the standard.

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