Iran power outage crisis leads politicians to slam their own policy

This unprecedented overt critique about the country’s problems apparently reveals the depth of the problem and Iran is not alone.

The Jerusalem Post – By SETH J. FRANTZMAN

JULY 5, 2021 19:29

Power outages are causing disruptions across Iran and protests are increasing. Pro-government media have now admitted that outages are taking place and warn that things could get worse.

This is a major challenge for President-elect Ebrahim Raisi.

Mohammad Qalibaf, the speaker of parliament, appeared to criticize the government’s policies this week with a post about how the “frequent power outages throughout the country and disruption of people’s lives and businesses require planning and management. If the increase in consumption and excess demand is not compensated in the short term for any reason, at least stick to the announced blackout schedule so that people can plan for problems.”

This unprecedented overt critique about the country’s problems apparently reveals the depth of the problem and Iran is not alone. Iraq is also suffering unprecedented electricity supply problems and this has been made worse by terror attacks on power lines in Iraq. This means that a whole swathe of territory from Jordan to Pakistan is suffering both extreme heat and power outages.