Speaking in a televised interview, Pezeshkian said Iran is functioning under wartime conditions that have limited fuel imports and cut government revenue, forcing officials to manage domestic gasoline supplies more tightly.

Gasoline Price and Consumption Plans

Pezeshkian said the government intends to raise the price of gasoline sold beyond regular quotas — commonly referred to as the "third quota" — from roughly 5,000 to 10,000 tomans per liter, though he did not specify a timetable. He said the increase would apply only to that supplemental tier and not to standard rationed fuel.

To reduce demand without raising prices broadly, Pezeshkian said the government is developing plans to cut the number of vehicles commuting into Tehran, encourage government employees to work from home one day a week, and expand access to intercity trains. He said roughly 2 million vehicles enter and exit Tehran daily and that cutting that number by half could save around 20 million liters of fuel a day.

He also said Iran is negotiating with a private supplier to import 150,000 fuel-efficient vehicles and roughly 200,000 electric motorcycles to lower consumption among taxi fleets, ride-hailing drivers and other high-mileage users. He said domestic automakers have been told to cut vehicle fuel consumption or lose production licenses, though he acknowledged that shift would take time.

Oil Exports and the Islamabad Agreement

Pezeshkian said Iran exported nearly 90 million barrels of oil during a recent period when a diplomatic understanding — reached through Iran's Supreme National Security Council and later finalized in Islamabad — briefly eased restrictions on Iranian crude and petrochemical sales. He said banking sanctions tied to the agreement were lifted for a time, and that officials from the economy and industry ministries had been negotiating roughly $300 billion in investment commitments with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates before the deal broke down.

He said Iran is again in talks, including with Oman, aimed at reopening a shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for the United States lifting sanctions on oil and petrochemical exports, releasing frozen Iranian funds and resuming halted investment.

Currency, Trade and Inflation

Pezeshkian said Iran's foreign trade has fallen between 25% and 35%, with imports declining more sharply than exports — a gap he said reflects the practical impact of sanctions. He said the rial's volatility is driven only partly by supply and demand, noting that the currency weakened sharply after reports of tightened sanctions and strengthened again when diplomatic talks with Oman resumed.

He said limited hard-currency reserves have forced the government to restrict import licenses for a range of goods, and that inflation — which he said has reached triple digits in some sectors — is being driven largely by the higher cost of sanctions-evading trade routes and global price increases linked to regional conflict.

Power and Natural Gas Supply

Pezeshkian said Iran inherited a 25,000-megawatt electricity shortfall when his administration took office, a gap that widened after attacks on power infrastructure and reduced water levels at hydroelectric dams. He credited public conservation efforts, including remote work policies adopted during recent hostilities, with cutting electricity use by an estimated 15% to 20%.

He said the country still faces a natural gas shortfall of about 250 million cubic meters and that the government's priority this winter is to avoid residential gas cutoffs while managing industrial supply, potentially through reduced office hours and continued remote work for government employees.

Pezeshkian said Iran had been unable to raise state subsidy payments in line with currency depreciation, citing limited government revenue, but said officials are working to expand and increase the subsidized goods program for lower-income households.