Iran doubles the top-tier petrol price from 8 September

Iran will double the unsubsidized petrol price from the morning of 8 September. Government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani said the third quota, the fuel a driver buys after 110 litres in a month, will rise from 5,000 tomans a litre to 10,000 tomans. The first 60 litres remain at 1,500 tomans. The next 50 litres remain at 3,000 tomans.

A toman is ten rials. At free-market rates quoted this week, 10,000 tomans is about four to five US cents. That is still among the lowest pump prices on earth. On 24 August, DailyFuels ranked Iran second-cheapest of 133 countries, at about $0.029 a litre, roughly 98 percent below the world average.

Mohajerani said expert meetings had looked at several numbers and that the president had promised the public a 10,000-toman cap on the top tier. Revenue from the higher third tier, she said, would go toward living conditions. She later made clear that the first two tiers would not move.

Why the third tier is moving now

Iran is a large oil producer that has, for years, imported blended petrol because domestic refining does not cover demand. Officials and industry sources have described a daily shortfall of 14 to 15 million litres. A senior Iranian source told Reuters the country had about two months of petrol supply left, given limited refining capacity. The US naval blockade in the Gulf and a wider sanctions campaign, including the Treasury's late-August Operation Economic Outcast against oil-smuggling networks, have made those imports harder.

The rial traded on the informal market at about 2.2 million to 2.27 million per dollar over the weekend. Cheap official petrol in a collapsing currency is a fiscal hole. It is also a political fuse. The last major attempt to lift prices, in 2019, set off nationwide protests. The government delayed this year's change for that reason and then chose a design that leaves the first 110 litres untouched.

What drivers did on Sunday

Queues formed at stations in Tehran, Isfahan and other cities as soon as the Sunday night announcement landed. Drivers tried to fill tanks before Tuesday. That is the first observable public reaction. It is not a protest. It is a rush to the old price.

The policy is aimed at heavy users: taxis, intercity drivers, households with more than one car. A private motorist who stays inside 110 litres a month sees no change at the pump. A driver who lives on the third tier sees the unit price double and still pays only a few cents a litre in dollar terms. The fiscal gain depends on how many litres sit in that third bucket and on whether smuggling to neighbouring markets slows when the gap narrows.

Mohajerani's sentence about living-conditions spending is the political wrapper. The operational facts are the three numbers, the Tuesday start date, the two-month supply warning, the 14-15 million litre daily gap, and the queues. Those are the items a reader can check when the new price boards go up on 8 September.