Spokesman for the Majlis energy committee says the government has legal authority to change petrol prices, but parliament opposes an increase now

Reza Sepahvand, MP for Khorramabad and spokesman for the energy committee of Iran's parliament, said on Monday, 27 July 2026 (5 Mordad 1405), in an interview with ISNA that parliament has delegated to the government the authority to change energy carrier prices, under the 2009 targeted subsidies law, the Seventh Development Plan and successive budget laws including the 1405 budget. He said the government has a free legal hand in this area, as has been the case with electricity, gas and water tariffs, and that last year's increase in the third petrol tier was carried out on the same basis.

Sepahvand nevertheless stressed that parliament as a whole and the energy committee do not consider the present moment right for a price increase, and that members oppose raising the petrol price at this juncture. He said talk had surfaced within the government about reviewing an increase in the third petrol tier, meaning the emergency cards issued at filling stations.

Government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani had said earlier on the same subject that strategies are needed to manage petrol consumption and that, to balance consumption against costs, "a solution must be adopted and this is certain and unavoidable"; she added that any change to quotas or prices would, as on previous occasions, be announced to the public in advance. The petrol price is one of the foundations of inflation expectations in Iran's economy.