Gas rationing ignites riots in Iran

TEHRAN, Iran — Iranians angered by abruptly enforced fuel rationing torched or damaged more than a dozen gas stations in the country's capital Wednesday, while others grumbled and lined up to fill their tanks.

The government has been warning for weeks that it would start rationing, but the announcement Tuesday night — three hours before the measure went into effect at midnight — startled Iranians and send them rushing to fill their tanks.

Long lines turned violent at several gas stations, witnesses said.

Drivers attacked some stations when the managers decided to stop selling fuel before midnight, saying they had to recalibrate their systems for the rationing.

Fire Department spokesman Behrouz Tashakkor said 12 stations in Tehran were set on fire. Cars and other buildings, including banks, also were damaged.

Under the rationing plan, owners of private cars can buy 26 gallons of fuel per month at the subsidized price of 38 cents per gallon. Taxis can get 211 gallons a month at the subsidized price.

Iran is the second-biggest exporter in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. But because the country has low refining capability, it imports more than 50 percent of its gasoline needs. To keep prices low, the government subsidized gas sales, saddling it with enormous costs.

Hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came to power in the 2005 election based largely on his promises to improve the faltering economy. But his failure to do so has sparked widespread criticism.

Conservatives in Iran's parliament, especially those aligned with the country's national oil company, long have pushed for higher gasoline prices to curtail demand and free up government funds for investment in more oil and gas production.

Ahmadinejad had resisted allowing increases because of his campaign promises to share Iran's oil wealth with the nation's poor. The government first said on May 21 that rationing would begin in two weeks, but the move was delayed without explanation.

The president has come under growing criticism — even from conservatives who once supported him — for dramatically rising housing and food prices in the past year. Many fear the increase in fuel costs will further increase inflation.

"This man, Ahmadinejad, has damaged all things. The timing of the rationing is just one case," said Reza Khorrami, a 27-year-old teacher who was among those lining up at one Tehran gas station before midnight on Tuesday.

Iranian legislators joined the criticism over the decision.

"The rationing could have been implemented in a better way," Alaeddin Broujerdi, head of the parliamentary committed on national security and foreign policy, was quoted as saying on the Web site of Iran's state-run broadcasting company.

He said he worried about the "security consequences" of the decision.

Another legislator, Darioush Qanbari, said the measure "has caused dissatisfaction among people and an undesirable psychological situation in the society."