Iran has stepped up the toxic burning of fuel oil for power generation amid electricity shortages, local media reported Thursday, in a move which is set to further pollute air quality but may do little to ease blackouts.
Tejarat News wrote officials last summer “imposed power outages on citizens under the pretext of ending fuel oil use,” though the practice continued behind the scenes.
“Now it’s clear that mazut never left the government’s agenda—not even last year,” it added.
All major power plants ran on mazut in 2024, Saeed Tavakoli, managing director of the National Iranian Gas Company confirmed Tuesday.
“All power plants across the country used fuel oil at full capacity last year,” he told reporters.
“Despite the president’s emphasis on environmental concerns, this was one of his administration’s adopted strategies.”
“Though the president and his deputy stress environmental protection, when there is an energy imbalance in the country, fuel oil is one of the available sources. In last year’s exceptional conditions, all mazut-fired plants were operational,” Tavakoli added.
“People must now endure pollution, blackouts, and disease at the same time,” Tejarat News warned.
Sanctions, age and mismanagement have taxed Iran's energy infrastructure, and the country has long faced blackouts especially in summer months when water and electricity demand surge.
The economic daily criticized the Pezeshkian administration for what it called a retreat from earlier pledges, adding: “Officials speak of environmental protection and renewable energy, but these same officials chose one of the most harmful fuels for humans and nature last winter.”
In November 2024, the government had ordered a halt to fuel oil use in cities including Arak, Isfahan, and Karaj due to worsening air pollution. That ban has since been quietly revoked.
“The state has now paved the way again for fuel oil use,” Tejarat News said. “But even this return failed to stop the blackouts.”
“Fuel oil burning is no longer an emergency fix—it is now a systematic, institutionalized policy that symbolizes the collapse of energy planning and the state’s neglect of public health and the environment,” it added.
More than 50 individuals and entities were designated, and over 50 vessels identified, in what the US Treasury called its largest Iran-related action since 2018.
“The Shamkhani family’s shipping empire highlights how the Iranian regime elites leverage their positions to accrue massive wealth and fund the regime’s dangerous behavior,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.
According to the Treasury, Hossein Shamkhani—who uses false identities including “H,” “Hector,” and “Hugo Hayek,” the name on his Dominican passport—built the network by exploiting his father’s political reach.
“This network transports oil and petroleum products from Iran and Russia, as well as other cargo, to buyers around the world, generating tens of billions of dollars in profit,” the Treasury press release said.
'Targeting elite not people'
The agency added that the network’s containership fleet also carries cargo in and out of Iran, employing tactics similar to those used by sanctioned oil tankers—frequent changes in operators and management firms to obscure ties to the Shamkhani family and avoid blacklisting.
The sweeping sanctions freeze any US-based assets and prohibit Americans from doing business with the named entities.
The Shamkhani family has also been accused of using its illicit wealth to obtain foreign passports and luxury properties abroad—privileges far removed from the daily struggles of ordinary Iranians.
“These sanctions target the regime’s elite inner circle,” Bessent said, “not the people of Iran.”
Ali Shamkhani, a former defense minister and former secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, was sanctioned by the US in 2020. Thursday’s action suggests Washington sees his family as central to Tehran’s efforts to evade international economic pressure.
Though enforcement depends on cooperation from third parties, the move signals Washington’s intent to escalate pressure on Iran’s ruling elite amid stalled nuclear diplomacy and deepening ties between Tehran and Moscow.