Iranians suffer from power blackouts during war and heatwave

What the report says

Al Jazeera reported from Tehran on July 19 that Iran is facing widespread rolling blackouts as a severe heatwave, wartime damage and long-running weaknesses in the electricity system strain the national grid. The report described darkened public facilities, traffic lights out at intersections and businesses using portable generators to keep food and other perishable goods from spoiling. Two Sharif University of Technology students told the outlet that outages disrupted final exams after university servers went offline, while one warned that people using home ventilators or refrigerated medicines face much higher risks.

According to Al Jazeera, the current crisis follows earlier assurances by President Masoud Pezeshkian and Energy Minister Abbas Aliabadi that summer power cuts would be avoided. The outlet cited Tehran City Council Chairman Mehdi Chamran as pointing to recent bombing of electrical facilities, while national electricity company chief Mohammad Allahdad reported a 4,200-megawatt loss of grid capacity and damage at more than 2,000 points. Local media cited in the report said strikes and damage affected facilities and networks in Kish Island, Bandar Abbas, Jask and Chabahar.

The report also highlighted structural problems predating the war. Bahman Arman, a Tehran University economics professor and former industry ministry adviser, told Al Jazeera that chronic underinvestment, ageing transmission lines and energy losses had left the system vulnerable. He said some large industrial users were knocked offline, but damage to the Mahshahr petrochemical complex turned a previous power contributor into a grid consumer.

The economic effects are widening. Former Iran Chamber of Commerce head Hossein Selahvarzi told Al Jazeera that industrial zones are losing four to six hours of power daily, hurting production, costs, orders and exports. Hospitals in Tehran were reported to be largely relying on backup systems, but the article said there is no quick fix for the broader grid crisis.