Iran is struggling to import enough petrol to offset weak domestic production, as a US naval blockade cuts off supply routes into the country, a senior Iranian official has said.
Vice President Mohammad Jafar Ghaempanah linked the shortage directly to the blockade, which has left Tehran unable to bridge the gap between local output and demand.
“Petrol production is insufficient, and because of the US naval blockade, we cannot import it,” the official IRNA news agency quoted Ghaempanah as saying on Wednesday. 
The shortage has pushed Iranians into long queues outside petrol stations in recent days, deepening the economic strain building on the country as its war with the United States increasingly plays out through financial and supply pressure rather than direct confrontation.
The conflict began on February 28, after which Iran seized control of the strategic Strait of Hormuz, prompting Washington to respond with a naval counter-blockade of Iranian ports.
Amid the fuel crunch, President Mohsen Haji-Mirzaei’s chief of staff said on Monday that petrol quotas would be reviewed, though he gave no further details on what changes might follow.
Ghaempanah also took aim at how Iran distributes its heavily subsidised fuel, arguing that the existing system favours those who own several vehicles over those with none.
“The distribution of petrol in the country is inequitable. Owners of several vehicles benefit from subsidies, unlike those who do not own one,” he said.
Iran remains one of the world’s major oil producers and has long offered some of the cheapest fuel globally, a legacy of decades of heavy subsidies that makes any move to alter pricing a politically delicate issue for the government.
