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Blackouts Cripple Iran: Students, Patients Face Crisis
19 Jul
Summary
- Power outages disrupt university exams and endanger patients' lives.
- US-Israeli strikes damaged over 2,000 points across the power network.
- Chronic underinvestment and ageing infrastructure fuel the energy deficit.
Students Kamran and Moein shared their frustrations as widespread power outages in Iran, including a recent incident that postponed 38 university exams, derail daily life. The blackouts have a more critical impact on patients dependent on ventilators and those storing vital medicines.
Recent US-Israeli strikes have severely damaged Iran's power infrastructure, impacting over 2,000 network points and causing a significant drop in grid capacity. These attacks compounded issues caused by a severe heatwave, turning sporadic outages into a daily reality despite assurances of a stable summer.
Experts attribute the persistent energy deficit to chronic underinvestment, aging transmission lines, and a failure to build new power plants. While industrial consumers like steel companies have reduced consumption due to damage, a key petrochemical complex that previously supplied surplus power now draws from the grid.
The industrial sector is facing four to six hours of daily blackouts, slashing production, increasing costs, and hindering exports. With winter gas shortages looming, the situation looks bleak for factory owners already dealing with wartime losses and decaying infrastructure.
