Iran keeps offices, educational institutions shut amid winter gas shortage

By Syed Zafar Mehdi

TEHRAN, Iran (AA) - Most government offices, universities and schools across Iran remained closed Sunday amid an intense cold wave sweeping the country and a shortage of gas supplies.

The sharp drop in temperatures in recent weeks, including in the capital Tehran, has led to an unprecedented increase in energy consumption.

Officials say the move is aimed at managing the consumption of gas to ensure no shortage of gas supplies for households and emergency services.

According to Iran's oil ministry, gas consumption in the country has surged by 30% this year compared to last winter, which prompted authorities to close down offices and educational institutions.

Only one-third of the number of branches of each bank in Tehran province remained open Sunday as per the order of the provincial governor and school and university classes were held online.

During a meeting with officials of the National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) on Sunday, President Ebrahim Raisi called for measures to prevent a massive outage of gas across the country.

He said, however, that the closure of government offices was not the "ideal solution" to the problem of gas shortages, stressing that the top priority is to deliver gas to households.

On Saturday, the NIGC, which is affiliated with the petroleum ministry, reported significant cuts in gas supply in five cities in the northeastern province of Khorasan Razavi, where the temperature has dropped drastically this winter.

The gas shortage in the country comes after Turkmenistan cut its gas supplies to Iran this year amid higher domestic demand.

According to an agreement signed in December 2021 between Iran, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan, 1.5 to 2 billion cubic meters of gas is delivered annually from Turkmenistan to Azerbaijan via Iran, of which Iran takes its share that meets the gas needs of northeastern provinces.

Iran has one of the largest oil and gas reserves in the region, equivalent to 1.2 trillion barrels, which have not been fully tapped.