Ahead of Iran's presidential runoff, a floated rise in gasoline prices may spark new protests

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — As Iran's runoff presidential election nears, comments by an official in the campaign of reformist Masoud Pezeshkian raised the possibility of his government increasing government-set gasoline prices — a move that has sparked nationwide protests in the past.

While still tentative, economists long have warned Iran needs to overhaul its system of subsidies, estimated to cost the Islamic Republic tens of billions of dollars a year. In 2019, a similar hike triggered mass demonstrations and a bloody crackdown that grew even more intense after the 2022 protests over the death of Mahsa Amini.

On Saturday, Pezeshkian campaign head Ali Abdolalizadeh told journalists that his possible presidency would see price hikes for fuel and other items handled without any outcry.

“Don’t worry, petrol at any ... price, you will see that it would be allowed with calmness and cooperation by the people,” Abdolalizadeh said.

Hard-liners immediately accused Pezeshkian of planning to increase fuel prices by a factor of eight. Pezeshkian's camp claimed the price under Saeed Jalili, a former nuclear negotiator Pezeshkian is facing in Friday's election, would be 12 times higher, based on remarks by those close to the hard-liner. That official, Majid Karimi, suggested Iranians should be paying the “world price” at the pump.

People gathered at a Jalili rally carried a sign warning against any price hike, saying: “We do not want petrol at price of 250,000 Rial" a liter. That would be 40 cents a liter, or $1.55 a gallon.

But no matter who is elected, it is likely Iran will see fuel price hikes.

Iran raised minimum gasoline prices by 50% to 15,000 rials per liter in 2019 — or 12 cents a liter, or about 50 cents a gallon. But with Iran's currency crashing since then, that's now 2 cents a liter, or 9 cents a gallon. After a monthly 60-liter quota, it costs 30,000 rials a liter. That had been nearly 24 cents a liter or 90 cents a gallon then, but now is nearly 5 cents a liter, or 18 cents a gallon. By comparison, an average gallon of regular gas in the U.S. costs $3.50, according to AAA.

Iran spent $52 billion on oil subsidies in 2022, according to the Paris-based International Energy Agency, the most of any country in the world. Iran spent 36% of its overall gross domestic product, or $127 billion, that year on oil, electricity and natural gas subsidies.

Though it costs the Iranian government tens of billions of dollars in subsidies, cheap gasoline is practically considered a birthright in the country, home to the world’s fourth-largest crude oil reserves despite decades of economic woes since its 1979 Islamic Revolution. Gasoline there remains among the cheapest in the world, in part to help keep costs low for its underemployed, who often drive taxis to make ends meet.

The 2019 hikes led to demonstrations across some 100 cities and towns across Iran, with gas stations and banks burned down. The crackdown that followed included at least 321 people killed, according to Amnesty International. Thousands were detained.

During the 2022 protests over the death of Amini, after she was arrested for wearing her hijab not to the liking of security forces, over 500 people were killed and 22,000 locked up — part of a pattern of widening unrest in the Islamic Republic.

On the streets of Tehran, people have grown increasingly anxious about the price of fuel rising.

“Do you know what that means? I may buy fuel to set fire to everything," said taxi driver, Rasoul Kashani, 45. "I will not vote at all. Both plan to slaughter ordinary people.”

Shahrooz Imani, a 41-year-old mother of three, said she planned to vote for Jalili as she believes he cares more about the poor given Pezeshkian's apparent plan to raise prices.

“This will deprive us of our daily needs — even vegetables and bread — if price of fuel hikes up,“ she said.

A bookseller on Tehran's famed Enghelab — or “Revolution” — Street also worried about the poor.

“We cannot tolerate this again, maybe we need to flee to neighboring countries to work," said Abbas Irani.

Mahdi Robati, a business analyst and CEO of an Iranian brokerage firm, warned that Jaili's economic policies and hard-line positions could bring about economic damage on the scale of China's Mao Zedong.

"The output of this thinking is the complete destruction of the rial, the spread of absolute poverty throughout the country, the deprivation of all political and social freedoms, famine and the complete couponization of the economy, and many other nightmarish consequences," he wrote on the social media platform X.

Karimi reported from Tehran, Iran.

Supporters of Saeed Jalili, a candidate for the Iran's presidential election, attend his campaign meeting in Tehran, Iran, Monday, June 24, 2024. Comments suggesting that Iran's reformist presidential candidate could increase government-set gasoline prices have raised fears of a repeat of nationwide protests. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Candidate for the presidential election Saeed Jalili, a former Iranian top nuclear negotiator, gestures in a meeting with a group of athlete supporters at a sport hall in his campaigns in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, June 30, 2024. Comments suggesting that Iran's reformist presidential candidate could increase government-set gasoline prices have raised fears of a repeat of nationwide protests. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Candidate for the presidential election Saeed Jalili, a former Iranian top nuclear negotiator, waves while leaving after the conclusion of a meeting with his athlete supporters, in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, June 30, 2024. Comments suggesting that Iran's reformist presidential candidate could increase government-set gasoline prices have raised fears of a repeat of nationwide protests. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Candidate for the presidential election Saeed Jalili, a former Iranian top nuclear negotiator, speaks to a group of athlete supporters in his campaign meeting at a sport hall in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, June 30, 2024. Comments suggesting that Iran's reformist presidential candidate could increase government-set gasoline prices have raised fears of a repeat of nationwide protests. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A supporter of the reformist candidate for the Iran's presidential election Masoud Pezeshkian flashes the victory sign during a campaign rally in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Comments suggesting that Iran's reformist presidential candidate could increase government-set gasoline prices have raised fears of a repeat of nationwide protests. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Supporters of the reformist candidate for the Iran's presidential election Masoud Pezeshkian hold up his posters during a campaign rally in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Comments suggesting that Iran's reformist presidential candidate could increase government-set gasoline prices have raised fears of a repeat of nationwide protests. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Reformist candidate for the Iran's presidential election Masoud Pezeshkian waves to his supporters during a campaign rally in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Comments suggesting that Iran's reformist presidential candidate could increase government-set gasoline prices have raised fears of a repeat of nationwide protests. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Reformist candidate for the Iran's presidential election Masoud Pezeshkian smells a flower during a campaign rally in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Comments suggesting that Iran's reformist presidential candidate could increase government-set gasoline prices have raised fears of a repeat of nationwide protests. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Reformist candidate for the Iran's presidential election Masoud Pezeshkian waves to his supporters during a campaign rally in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Comments suggesting that Iran's reformist presidential candidate could increase government-set gasoline prices have raised fears of a repeat of nationwide protests. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

street vendor sells blow up animals in northern Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. Comments suggesting that Iran's reformist presidential candidate could increase government-set gasoline prices have raised fears of a repeat of nationwide protests. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A street vendor sells blow up animals in northern Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. Comments suggesting that Iran's reformist presidential candidate could increase government-set gasoline prices have raised fears of a repeat of nationwide protests. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

People walk through the Tajrish traditional bazaar in northern Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. Comments suggesting that Iran's reformist presidential candidate could increase government-set gasoline prices have raised fears of a repeat of nationwide protests. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A man rides his motorcycle among cars in an afternoon traffic jam in northern Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. Comments suggesting that Iran's reformist presidential candidate could increase government-set gasoline prices have raised fears of a repeat of nationwide protests. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

People commute in their cars during an afternoon traffic jam in northern Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. Comments suggesting that Iran's reformist presidential candidate could increase government-set gasoline prices have raised fears of a repeat of nationwide protests. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

People commute in their cars during an afternoon traffic jam in northern Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. Comments suggesting that Iran's reformist presidential candidate could increase government-set gasoline prices have raised fears of a repeat of nationwide protests. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

CHAPIN, S.C. (AP) — President Joe Biden 's campaign provided lists of approved questions to two radio hosts who did the first interviews with him after his faltering debate performance, both hosts said on Saturday.

Biden's Thursday appearances on Black radio shows in the critical states of Wisconsin and Pennsylvania were his first chances to show he could answer questions and discuss his record after a debate in which the 81-year-old repeatedly struggled to complete sentences and press his case against Republican Donald Trump.

Radio host Earl Ingram said Saturday that Biden aides reached out to him directly for his interview that aired Thursday and sent him a list of four questions in advance, about which there was no negotiation.

“They gave me the exact questions to ask,” Ingram, whose “The Earl Ingram Show” is broadcast statewide across 20 Wisconsin outlets, told The Associated Press. “There was no back and forth.”

But moving forward from the pair of radio interviews, the Biden campaign plans to refrain from offering suggested questions to hosts, according to a person familiar with the candidate's interview booking process but not permitted to speak publicly about its operations.

But while the interviews were meant as part of an effort to restore faith in Biden’s ability not just to govern over the next four years but to successfully campaign, the revelation instead created questions about whether Biden was capable of performing in ad-hoc, unscripted moments following his disastrous debate performance.

Appearing with Ingram earlier on CNN, Andrea Lawful-Sanders — host of “The Source” on WURD in Philadelphia — said that she had received a list of eight questions, from which she approved four.

The Biden campaign noted that it is common practice to suggest questions and said it did not make acceptance of the questions a prerequisite for the interviews themselves.

Lauren Hitt, spokesperson for the Biden campaign, said it is “not at all an uncommon practice for interviewees to share topics they would prefer,” adding that the questions sent to both Ingram and Lawful-Sanders “were relevant to news of the day,” including Biden’s debate performance and “what he’d delivered for Black Americans.”

She also pointed to a Virginia TV station saying Trump’s campaign called off an interview after the debate after the station's reporter refused to agree to conditions on his questions. The Trump campaign did not immediately return a message seeking comment on its interview practices or if such appearances had been canceled over subject matter.

Biden argued on Ingram's show that much more than his own political future was in jeopardy, saying: “The stakes are really high. I know you know this. For democracy, for freedom ... our economy, they’re all on the line.”

Ingram asked four questions in his 18-minute interview. He asked if Biden could “speak to to some accomplishments that we may or may not be familiar with about your record, especially here in Wisconsin,” what was at stake for Black voters in the election, what Biden would say to people who believe their vote doesn't matter, and if he could address his debate performance and a remark Trump made during the debate about people crossing the border and taking what he called “Black jobs.”

“I didn’t have a good debate. That’s 90 minutes on stage. Look at what I’ve done in 3.5 years," Biden said in answering the last question before speaking for several minutes about Trump, the economy and veterans' issues.

Since the interview with Biden, Ingram said all six phone lines for his weekday broadcast have been jammed with callers seeking to weigh in on whether Biden should quit the race, estimating that more than two-thirds want Biden to continue.

When asked about the set list of questions, Ingram — who has been in radio for 15 years and said he doesn't consider himself a journalist — said that the notion of receiving a set list of questions for a guest gave him pause, but also presented a perhaps once-in-a-career opportunity.

“I probably would never have accepted, it but this was an opportunity to talk to the president of the United States,” he said.

Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP

President Joe Biden arrives at Delaware Air National Guard Base in New Castle, Del., Friday, July 5, 2024, from a campaign rally in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

President Joe Biden boards Air Force One to depart at Dane County Regional Airport in Madison, Wis., following a campaign visit, Friday, July 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

President Joe Biden speaks to reporters on the tarmac before departing at Dane County Regional Airport in Madison, Wis., following a campaign visit, Friday, July 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)