{"id":348728,"date":"2026-10-12T18:55:38","date_gmt":"2026-10-12T17:55:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=348728"},"modified":"2026-10-12T18:56:21","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T17:56:21","slug":"pezeshkian-warns-fuel-reform-could-upend-society-as-police-tighten-grip-on-markets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/economy\/pezeshkian-warns-fuel-reform-could-upend-society-as-police-tighten-grip-on-markets\/","title":{"rendered":"Pezeshkian Warns Fuel Reform Could \u201cUpend Society\u201d as Security Forces Tighten Grip on Markets"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Hardline
Hardline cleric and MP Hamid Rasaee (white turban, left of center) argues with the Iranian regime’s president Masoud Pezeshkian as journalists and fellow lawmakers crowd around them in Parliament<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Four-minute read<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The Iranian regime’s president Masoud Pezeshkian gave one of the clearest indications yet of the regime\u2019s fear that economic decisions could trigger wider social instability. Speaking on October 12 at the opening ceremony of the academic year at Shahid Beheshti University, he acknowledged<\/a> that heavily subsidized gasoline prices are economically unsustainable but warned against changing them abruptly. \u201cEveryone knows\u201d gasoline cannot realistically be sold for 1,500 tomans a liter when transportation alone costs roughly 4,000\u20135,000 tomans, he said. But an immediate intervention, Pezeshkian warned, could \u201cupend the whole society.\u201d<\/p>\n

The gasoline warning came amid sharpening infighting inside the establishment. Nobonyad<\/em>, aligned with the Paydari faction, attacked both Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf and Pezeshkian, citing a poll it said<\/a> showed public trust in parliament had fallen below 10% and blaming the chamber\u2019s failure to confront what it called the government\u2019s \u201cineffective ministers.\u201d The outlet also argued that parliament\u2019s months-long suspension had further damaged its standing.<\/p>\n

MP Amir-Hossein Sabeti sharpened<\/a> that attack by questioning the official security justification for keeping parliament closed. He noted that while the Majles had been suspended \u201cunder the pretext of security,\u201d Ghalibaf, SSF chief Ahmad-Reza Radan and other senior figures regarded as potential assassination targets continued to appear publicly at events and before the media.<\/p>\n

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"At a time when Mojtaba #Khamenei<\/a> and the upper echelons of Iran\u2019s ruling establishment are urging regime insiders to avoid public feuding, rival factions are doing precisely the opposite," writes @MehdiOghbai<\/a>.https:\/\/t.co\/8mLnu5CPU6<\/a><\/p>\n

— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) September 16, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n