Iran’s audit watchdog pushed back on President Masoud Pezeshkian’s comments about fuel costs, warning officials against providing inaccurate data and saying gasoline imports this year were far lower than figures cited publicly.
The Supreme Audit Court said in a statement that documented gasoline import costs had reached $1.8 billion by late December, adding that even under a high-end scenario, total imports for the full year would amount to around $2.7 billion, well below the president’s estimate.
Pezeshkian had told parliament earlier this week that the government spent about $6 billion importing gasoline this year, while budgeting roughly $8 billion in subsidized foreign exchange next year for essential imports, even as many goods were effectively priced at market exchange rates.
The president cited fuel and energy subsidies as a central distortion in Iran’s economy, arguing that higher consumption channels larger amounts of state support to wealthier households. He described the current system as inequitable and unsustainable, particularly as domestic fuel demand continues to rise.
The audit body warned against the use of inaccurate or unverified financial data in policymaking, saying that decisions on energy shortages and broader economic reforms should be based on “precise, transparent and verifiable information.”
The dispute comes as Iran grapples with chronic fuel shortages, rising imports and a widening gap between domestic production capacity and consumption. Officials have said inefficient vehicles, smuggling and low prices have pushed gasoline demand well beyond refinery output, forcing imports despite Iran’s status as a major oil producer.
While the audit court challenged the scale of gasoline imports, it did not dispute broader concerns over subsidies, which economists say absorb tens of billions of dollars annually and weigh heavily on public finances.
A reformist daily, Etemad, said in an editorial on Monday that Iran’s budget debate reflects a deeper problem: a persistent gap between official plans and economic realities.
“The distance between what is written on paper and what happens in practice remains deep and worrying,” the paper wrote, adding that promises to reform spending and target resources have repeatedly translated into pressure on “transparent and productive” sectors rather than on inefficient or tax-exempt entities.
The editorial argued that quasi-state and semi-private companies continue to operate in a “safe zone,” contributing little in taxes despite controlling a significant share of economic resources. “A large portion of national resources circulates within this gray structure without an effective return to the public budget,” it said.
The paper also warned that a 25% rise in bond issuance signaled growing reliance on borrowing, shifting fiscal pressure into the future without generating sustainable growth.
The gasoline cost dispute adds to pressure on Pezeshkian’s government as lawmakers review the budget for the Iranian year beginning in March, against a backdrop of high inflation, currency weakness and public frustration over living costs.
The dispute unfolded as shopkeeper protests linked to the rial’s plunge continued in Tehran for a second day on Monday.
Tehran’s unveiling of a towering statue depicting the Roman Emperor Valerian kneeling before pre-Islamic Persian King Shapur I has renewed criticism of the Islamic Republic’s appeal to nationalist sentiment following the June war with Israel.
For over forty years, the theocracy purged ancient Persian history from schoolbooks, replacing it with post-Islamic narratives. But after the 12-day conflict with Israel, officials have turned to the distant pre-Islamic past to rally a divided society.
From murals of ancient kings and soldiers to patriotic songs added to Shi’ite mourning ceremonies performed before Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Tehran now embraces imagery once deemed heretical by its own revolutionary ethos.
'Kneel before Iran' campaign
Tehran’s Revolution (Enghelab) Square was the scene of an unusual spectacle on Friday as officials unveiled a massive bronze statue depicting Roman Emperor Valerian kneeling in submission before Sassanid King Shapur I, commemorating Iran’s victory at the Battle of Edessa (260 AD).
The event was held under the slogan “Kneel before Iran,” part of what authorities describe as a campaign to project “national unity and historical pride” following the June war with Israel.
Tehran Mayor Alireza Zakani, a staunch ultraconservative, said on X: “Enmity with Great Iran can only end in kneeling before this historic nation.”
Municipal official Davood Goodarzi said the installation would be accompanied by visual displays depicting “other victories of Iranians over foreign aggressors,” including the defeat of British forces by local commander Rais-Ali Delvari, Mirza Kuchak Khan’s resistance against Russian troops, and Surena’s triumph over Rome at the Battle of Carrhae in 53 BCE.
The goal, Goodarzi said, is “strengthening concepts such as national dignity, social unity, and Iranian identity.”
The statue, he said, would remain temporarily at Revolution Square before being moved to a city gateway “where it will stand as the first emblem of Iran before diplomats and foreign visitors.”
Unveiled women were allowed to attend the unveiling ceremony—an uncommon scene at events organized by Tehran’s ultra-hardline municipality.
The turn to the pre-Islamic past
The sharp reversal also recalls remarks once made by Khamenei. In a 2011 speech, he asserted that “all the great military victories of this nation came after Islam,” dismissing pre-Islamic accounts as “things that are not documented.”
In 1987, he had said that prophets triumphed over kings such as Cyrus and that “nothing remains of these monarchs in history but names remembered with derision.”
Nevertheless, pro-government social media accounts have now gone so far as to circulate posters equating Khamenei himself with Shapur, showing him standing with a staff as Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump kneel before him. The caption reads: “You will kneel before Iran.”
'Hypocrisy'
Pro-government figures have hailed the move as a patriotic success. Conservative political reporter Hossein Saremi posted: “Today’s grand Iranian gathering showed that people and the state share one essence: Iran itself. Nothing can take our homeland away.”
Others, however, called the spectacle “hypocrisy.” Journalist Gholamhossein Pashaei wrote on X: “Every year you close Pasargadae to stop people from celebrating Cyrus Day, yet you unveil Shapur’s statue in Enghelab Square with drums and fireworks during Fatimiyya (mourning period)!”
Dissident commentator Hamid Asafi called the ceremony “a perfect snapshot of the Islamic Republic’s contradictions.”
On Telegram he wrote: “A week ago they closed Cyrus’s tomb out of fear of the crowds, and now they glorify Shapur in the same breath. The Islamic Republic fears living history but poses for selfies with its corpse.”
He added: “They know people no longer respond to rosaries and sermons. That’s why they’ve brought history back to the stage—in a controlled costume. If they can’t erase the past, they’ll try to own it.”
The irony deepened as UNESCO formally recognized Cyrus’s Charter as one of the earliest human-rights documents.
President Masoud Pezeshkian wrote on X: “Iran, the cradle of dialogue, justice, and coexistence, can still inspire peace today.”
Users swiftly replied, questioning how such pride could coexist with a government that blocks access to Cyrus’s tomb each year to those wishing to visit it on his birthday.
