| The revolution is coming. |
In Tehran, petrol queues have become a frequent sight. Last Friday night, as Tehranis returned to the city after their weekly day off, cars were backed up at midnight outside one petrol station in northern Tehran, home to the city's wealthy, Hermes-wearing elite, which has never been a fan of the populist President. Here, restaurant diners don't even look up from their lamb kebabs when a creature in a red scarf drives her matching red sports car along Valiasr Avenue, the tree-lined road that cuts through the city from north to south.
It's a different story in the working-class southern districts, where voters turned out in their hordes to elect the Tehran mayor as President in June 2005. Impoverished Iranians who supplement their income as unofficial taxi drivers have been particularly affected by the petrol rationing, which was introduced with only three hours' notice on 27 June, prompting motorists to burn down a dozen petrol stations around Tehran.
Although pockets of rioting were also reported elsewhere in the country, the effects of the rationing are considered to be worst in the capital, a city of 14 million. Private motorists are allowed only 100 litres a month, or three litres a day, while official taxis get 800 litres a month. In the popular Iranian resort of Kish, an island on the Gulf, travellers say it is impossible to get a taxi because of the rationing.
The measures have produced three main effects in Tehran: traffic is estimated to have diminished by a third, giving the city's notoriously reckless drivers even more scope. A black market thrives as motorists who don't use their full quota or give it to their family members sell their surplus at the semi-market rate of 5,000 rials ($5). But at least the usual smog has lifted, revealing the Alborz mountains to the northof the city.
The question now is the extent to which the President's declining popularity will be further damaged by the rationing, which comes at a time when inflation – officially 13 per cent but estimated to be at least double that – is rising.
| Turning Iran into Zimbabwe. Difficult but it can be done. |
Some praise the President for introducing the measure which was under discussion for years. Hossein Shariatmadari, president of the conservative Kayhan group of newspapers, which supports Mr Ahmadinejad, said: "Rationing was a necessary measure which should have been taken a long time ago but, unfortunately, we did not have a government courageous enough." He argued that Iranians would come to see that the measure was justified. He said: "Each litre costs almost 70 cents and we give it to people at 10 cents. The difference is paid by all the people of Iran – even those who don't have a car."
Though Iran is a major oil exporter, it lacks refining capacity and has to import 60 per cent of its petrol from abroad, while continuing to subsidise petrol for domestic consumption.
| Be a shame if something happened to the domestic refineries. |
After a setback in local elections last December, the next test for Mr Ahmadinejad's conservative faction will come in parliamentary elections next March. Mr Ahmadinejad faces a presidential election in June 2009. "He has no brain," said one Tehrani as he risked his life by attempting to cross the road. So why did people vote for him? "I didn't vote," came the reply.
| Because you didn't have any real choices? |