The Iranian regime’s oil minister in the Pezeshkian cabinet, Mohsen Paknejad, has admitted that “special super gasoline” will soon be sold in selected stations at prices exceeding 50,000 tomans per liter—more than thirty times the official subsidized rate. The announcement, made on August 17, 2025, has triggered alarm among citizens already battered by inflation, who see the move as a prelude to broader fuel price hikes.
Paknejad attempted to justify the measure by claiming it does not affect existing quotas or subsidized prices of 1,500 and 3,000 tomans per liter. “The 100-liter monthly quota remains intact. The emergency fuel cards remain intact. Regular super gasoline at the previous rate remains intact. What is being sold above 50,000 tomans is imported fuel by private companies, with added costs for purchase, transportation, and distribution,” he said.
But observers note that this “special fuel” creates a new tiered system, effectively catering to wealthy car owners and widening the social divide. According to ISNA, Paknejad himself acknowledged that the price could exceed 50,000 tomans once private sector costs for purchase and transportation are added. Analysts warn this paves the way for deeper inequality and a gradual normalization of higher fuel prices.
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Economic analysts argue the policy is less about luxury fuel than about testing public tolerance for future hikes. As one Iranian outlet warned that selling super gasoline above 50,000 tomans effectively creates a dual market for the rich and ordinary citizens, deepening class divisions and paving the way for broader price hikes in the future.
With chronic budget deficits, rising import costs, and heavy reliance on foreign fuel supplies, the clerical dictatorship faces mounting pressure to scale back subsidies. Officials insist the poor will be protected, but past experience—most notably the bloody protests after the November 2019 fuel price shock—suggests otherwise.
For now, the government frames 50,000-toman gasoline as optional and limited. Yet many Iranians see it as the thin end of the wedge: a signal that, sooner or later, fuel subsidies will be slashed and the cost will fall on ordinary households already struggling to survive.