With Iranian authorities having announced a doubling of petrol prices, accounts from multiple cities point to a compounding challenge: residents are encountering not only higher costs at the pump but also reduced availability of fuel itself.

Jafar Ghaderi, a member of Iran's parliamentary Economic Commission, told reporters last week that the country contends with a daily petrol deficit of between 15 and 20 million litres, with import costs running at approximately one US dollar per litre. According to his account, a maritime blockade had restricted the flow of trade into Iran. Ghaderi noted that roughly 83% of commodity imports had historically moved through southern sea corridors, and curbs on those pathways have disrupted the availability of both merchandise and fuel.

Video recorded in the Velenjak district of Tehran captured an extended line of vehicles at a fuel station that local residents described as typically low in traffic. A separate contact reported to a prominent broadcaster that they had checked multiple fuel stations across Farmanieh and Pasdaran, two affluent districts of the city, without locating any petrol.

Footage circulating from both Mashhad and Rasht depicts residents gathered in lengthy queues at fuel stations across the two cities. A local resident in Mashhad reported being turned away from five petrol stations without fuel due to the absence of a fuel card, while footage from Saravan showed vehicles lined up outside the Pak Gohar petrol station.

Local residents reported standing in line from the early hours of the morning to collect their fuel allocation, with a number of people waiting several hours under the conditions of Sistan and Baluchestan. Video recorded in the port city of Chabahar depicts long lines of vehicles extending across several kilometres at petrol stations still able to dispense fuel, with a number of other outlets across the city having shut down after exhausting their supplies.

A local inhabitant in South Khorasan noted that two of the three filling stations in the area were not operating, with attendants indicating they had no petrol available. A resident of Mazandaran reported venturing out for fuel at 2:20 in the morning, finding two of the three fuel stations in the area closed, with the remaining one running a single pump lane.

Questions over fuel quality have also been growing. In the past week, drivers in Tehran and several other cities reported to a broadcast outlet that their vehicles began misfiring, displaying dashboard alerts, losing power, and overheating shortly after refuelling. Video footage from Shahr-e Rey, released in recent days, captured multiple cars stalling and breaking down in succession following a visit to a petrol station.

Vehicles in Rafsanjan — both cars and motorcycles — reported engine and mechanical faults following fuel purchases at local stations. Several area officials have put forward the theory that fuel delivery tankers may have allowed water to infiltrate petrol storage tanks. Repeated occurrences of comparable events across various regions of Iran have prompted wider scrutiny over fuel quality standards, with accounts pointing to the possible inclusion of additives such as methanol in the country's petrol supply chain.

Exceeding permitted concentrations of these compounds can harm fuel delivery components, injectors, and engine internals, according to technical findings. Ministry of Oil representatives have stated that methanol application remains restricted and meets the requirements of applicable regulations.

Members of President Pezeshkian's administration have been voicing a call for an increase in fuel prices. Mohammad Jafar Ghaempanah, the executive vice-president, told a broadcast outlet that selling fuel priced at 70,000 tomans for just 1,500 tomans was not something any rational person would accept, and he noted that financial hardship was placing a heavy burden on ordinary citizens. In recent statements, Pezeshkian announced that the third-tier fuel price would double, moving from 5,000 tomans to 10,000 tomans, a shift that translates to approximately $0.036 and $0.073 respectively.

A number of Iranians have expressed concern that rising fuel costs could push consumer prices higher across the economy. One Tehran resident, speaking to a broadcaster, described crowded forecourts, queues drawing tensions between drivers, daily increases in food prices, and a general mood of discontent among the population. A third observer remarked that the streets of Tehran had become noticeably less busy than before.

Fuel availability has declined, vehicle breakdowns have become more frequent, and repair expenses have risen considerably. Many residents now venture outside only when necessary. The government attributes the fuel shortage to conflict, international sanctions, and elevated import costs, while some analysts contend it stems from prolonged underinvestment in refinery infrastructure, an outdated transport fleet, low fuel-efficiency vehicle production, and substantial state expenditure on defence, missile, and nuclear programmes.

Inconsistent fuel supplies, declining petrol standards, and rising costs have made obtaining petrol an everyday challenge for large numbers of people throughout Iran. Access to fuel has drawn attention to broader pressures on household budgets and the day-to-day challenges many people face in meeting basic needs.