Iranian officials have announced an extra day of government shutdowns to ease demand on dwindling electricity and water supplies amid a summer of searing heat.
Schools, universities and government offices will close across most of the country on Saturday for a public holiday. For the past month, most public offices in Iran have closed on Wednesdays in order to reduce energy and water use. It is not clear how long the shutdowns will last.
Still reeling from a devastating 12-day war with Israel this summer, most Iranians now experience daily power and water cuts at a time when parts of the country are seeing extreme humidity and temperatures of up to to 122 degrees Fahrenheit. The daily cuts mean that residents cannot cool off in air-conditioning or run tap water.
Despite being home to one of the world’s largest supplies of natural gas and oil, Iran has long faced energy shortages in part because of dilapidated infrastructure, which the authorities blame on Western sanctions.
During the war this summer, Israeli strikes damaged oil storage sites, refineries and power stations. A year earlier, Israel blew up two Iranian gas pipelines, affecting supplies that produce about 70 percent of the country’s energy use.
According to state media, three of Iran’s major dams have run dry this summer, while major reservoirs are at 41 percent of capacity.
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The post Battling Power Outages and Heat Wave, Iran Orders More Shutdowns appeared first on New York Times.
