Iran doubles petrol price for heavy users

Iran will double the price of petrol for its highest-use tier to 10,000 tomans per litre from September 8, government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani said Sunday.

The increase applies only after a consumer has used the first 110 litres in a month. Mohajerani later clarified that the first tier, 1,500 tomans per litre for the first 60 litres, and the second tier, 3,000 tomans per litre for the next 50 litres, would not change.

The third tier is currently 5,000 tomans per litre. The new price is about 4.5 US cents per litre. The toman is an informal unit equal to 10 Iranian rials.

Iran is a major oil producer and has long subsidised petrol, making price changes politically sensitive. The announcement came as the United States increased sanctions aimed at isolating Iran's economy.

Websites that track the black-market exchange rate showed the rial trading at more than 2.2 million to the US dollar on Sunday. It traded at about 1.7 million to the dollar before the Middle East war began on February 28.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said late last month that Washington planned the “economic asphyxiation” of Iran. The United States has also put Iranian ports under a naval blockade in an effort to reduce oil exports to zero.