Ahead of Iran's presidential runoff, a floated rise in gasoline prices may spark new protests

abcnews.go.com:

Comments suggesting that Iran's reformist presidential candidate could increase government-set gasoline prices have raised fears of a repeat of nationwide protests

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — As Iran's runoff presidential election nears, comments by an official in the campaign of reformist Masoud Pezeshkian raised the possibility of his government increasing government-set gasoline prices — a move that has sparked nationwide protests in the past.

While still tentative, economists long have warned Iran needs to overhaul its system of subsidies, estimated to cost the Islamic Republic tens of billions of dollars a year. In 2019, a similar hike triggered mass demonstrations and a bloody crackdown that grew even more intense after the 2022 protests over the death of Mahsa Amini.

On Saturday, Pezeshkian campaign head Ali Abdolalizadeh told journalists that his possible presidency would see price hikes for fuel and other items handled without any outcry.

“Don’t worry, petrol at any… price, you will see that it would be allowed with calmness and cooperation by the people,” Abdolalizadeh said.

Hard-liners immediately accused Pezeshkian of planning to increase fuel prices by a factor of eight. Pezeshkian's camp claimed the price under Saeed Jalili, a former nuclear negotiator Pezeshkian is facing in Friday's election, would be 12 times higher, based on remarks by those close to the hard-liner. That official, Majid Karimi, suggested Iranians should be paying the “world price” at the pump.

People gathered at a Jalili rally carried a sign warning against any price hike, saying: “We do not want petrol at price of 250,000 Rial" a liter. That would be 40 cents a liter, or $1.55 a gallon.

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