Esmaeil Seqab-Esfahani said the initiative is aimed at addressing the country’s current energy consumption structure and severe fuel imbalances.

He said the government’s new strategy would delegate responsibility for managing gasoline and natural gas consumption to local authorities and private companies as part of broader decentralization efforts.

Emphasizing that Iran is facing what he described as a “full-scale economic and infrastructure war,” Seqab-Esfahani said the current energy imbalance is the result of years of policymaking without sufficient expert support.

He warned that continuing the current trend and allowing further waste of resources is no longer possible, adding that officials must make a difficult choice between implementing structural reforms or continuing what he called a “catastrophic situation.”