Iran shuts down government offices, banks due to extreme heat and energy crisis

AKIPRESS.COM – Iranian authorities announced on state television on August 5 that government institutions and banks in Tehran and 15 of the country’s 31 provinces will be closed on Wednesday due to an ongoing heatwave. The extreme heat has worsened the water supply situation and placed a heavy strain on the power grid, Deutsche Welle reports.

Medical facilities, private companies, and some bank branches will remain open.

The heatwave has gripped Iran since mid-July and is expected to last for at least another five days. The situation is most severe in the south, where the city of Abadan recorded temperatures above +50°C on August 3. The government hopes that the closures will help reduce consumption of water and electricity.

The country’s current electricity production is 62,000 megawatts per hour, while peak demand requires 80,000 megawatts. The resulting energy crisis has led to scheduled blackouts of 2-4 hours every other day in Tehran and other cities, which has sparked protests outside the state power company, Tavanir.

According to the local newspaper Shargh, many businesses are now without electricity for four days a week due to the heat, causing production levels to fall to what they were in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Iranian media are also reporting that the country is experiencing its most severe drought in decades.