Gas Station Owners Protest; Some are in Prison

Meanwhile, the gasoline crises is now impacting the agricultural sector in addition to the city and inter-city transportation activities such that the gasoline shortage has forced many businesses involved in the transportation and delivery of farm products to refrain from moving these products. This has already led to contamination of fruits and vegetables, creating some shortages.

In a related report, the ministry of petroleum announced that the import budget for 2007 has already been approved and so it is not clear at this point in time how much money is needed to import gasoline till the end of the current Iranian year (ending on March 20, 2008).

The meeting of the gas station owners on Tuesday and the remarks of the syndicate of gas station owners has surprised many observers because of the express criticism that was raised at the way the government was implementing the gasoline rationing plan and the dealing with gasoline stations.

Bijan Haj Mohammad Reza, the president of the syndicate of gas station owners explained the problems of his trade in clear and explicit terms. “Since the implementation of the gasoline rationing scheme, many gas station owners are now in prison because many lost gasoline cards had been found at the stations. Many syndicate members did not even know of such incidents,” he said. “I can confidently say that half of those present in this meeting are willing to relinquish ownership of their stations and pass them on to the ministry of oil and so we call on the ministry to make a decision on our trade because it has already cheated on us and not provided us with any of the income derived from the rationing scheme.”

Calling the need to have access to unrationed gasoline a necessity, he said, “The ministry of oil must clarify and define the meaning of ‘gasoline outside the (distribution) network’. Does this mean that a gas station is not allowed to provide gasoline – out of kindness which has been the government’s slogan - to individuals who have a need for it beyond the ration card?”