Offices and banks in several Iranian provinces to close on Wednesday 5 August to manage the power shortfall

With a mass of hot air persisting over the country and energy consumption rising, energy consumption management working groups in several Iranian provinces have ordered offices and banks closed on Wednesday 5 August 2026 (14 Mordad 1405). The decision, whose details were published on Tuesday 4 August, aims to reduce pressure on the national electricity grid and avoid unplanned outages.

In Ilam province, where the heatwave coincides with Arbaeen pilgrim traffic, all executive bodies, offices and banks are closed apart from duty branches, while medical centres and operational service units are exempt. In Qom, executive bodies, insurance companies and non governmental public institutions have stopped work, and banks must staff duty branches. The governorate of Kermanshah went further, ordering a complete shutdown of office cooling and lighting systems from the end of the working day on Tuesday until the start of the working day on Saturday.

In Hormozgan, following an orange weather warning, all offices and university centres were declared closed, while bodies covered by article 12 of the customs rules and hospitals remain fully operational. Bushehr province announced widespread office closures both to ease Arbaeen pilgrim movement and to manage energy consumption, and Kurdistan province confirmed the closure of offices, banks and insurance companies. School and university examinations are not covered by the closures and follow the decisions of the relevant ministries. These orders are provincial and do not apply nationwide.