Protests have erupted for a second night in the Iranian city of Sabzevar, as residents took to the streets over prolonged electricity and water outages during a record-breaking heatwave. Security forces reportedly fired tear gas to disperse demonstrators, who chanted “no water, no power”, while temperatures soared above 48°C, according to Iranian media reports.
The unrest highlights growing infrastructure stress as Iran faces its hottest summer in decades. Officials declared a public holiday on Tuesday in Tehran and at least 10 other provinces, ordering all government offices closed to reduce grid strain and conserve water. President Masoud Pezeshkian has urged citizens to cut water usage by 20%, warning of further supply cuts if demand continues at current levels, according to the Financial Times.
Reservoir levels across the country are at generational lows, and national power consumption has repeatedly exceeded 70,000 megawatts in recent days. Power disruptions now extend beyond rural regions into major cities including Isfahan, Mashhad, and southern Tehran, according to Al-Monitor.
Meanwhile, Iran’s oil exports are surging. According to PressTV, citing data from tanker tracker Vortexa, crude and condensate exports in June averaged nearly 1.9 million barrels per day. During the first half of the month, loadings briefly peaked at 2.5 million bpd.
China remained the leading destination for Iran’s exports, receiving more than 1.7 million barrels per day.
The surge comes despite ongoing U.S. sanctions and stricter EU price cap enforcement. Iran has continued to rely on a shadow fleet and opaque routing tactics to sustain flows into Asia.
Iran is now exporting more oil than at any point in recent years, even as blackouts fuel street protests at home, as the regime appears to prioritize the movement of crude exports over cost to the domestic grid. At the same time, it is playing a tricky geopolitical game over its nuclear program. On Monday, the UK, Germany, and France tentatively agreed to hold nuclear talks with Iran in Istanbul at the end of this week.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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