ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iran’s parliament speaker on Sunday called for an urgent expert committee to investigate the electricity shortage gripping the country and the depreciation of the Iranian rial.
“The industry and energy commissions should prepare different dimensions and solutions for energy imbalance. It is necessary to prepare these reports carefully and urgently,” Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf said during a session.
The Iranian government has faced energy shortages in the past month that have led the government to ask consumers to lower their home heat by two degrees in order to save on electricity.
“The high currency prices and the issue of electricity and gas shortages have caused many problems for people these days,” Ghalibaf stressed.
The gas and electricity shortage, which has lasted more than two weeks, has forced the government to impose two-hour daily electricity cuts. The government also cuts off electricity to factories and industrial areas for 14 hours a day.
According to Iran’s oil minister, the power conservation methods could save 50 to 60 million cubic meters of gas crucially in time for a cold front forecast to hit the country.
The energy shortage has also compelled Iran to extend its suspension of gas exports to its dependent neighbor Iraq.
The Iranian rial has also experienced a sharp decline since the fall of Bashar al-Assad in Syria and Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential election.
“In this context, it is necessary for the economic commission to submit its report to the parliament on the reasons and consequences of the increase in the currency price with an expert review,” Ghalibaf said.
At the beginning of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s new cabinet, 1 US dollar was worth approximately 58,000 Iranian tomans. It has now risen to nearly 76,000 tomans per US dollar.
