Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Iran begins gasoline rationing. Wait. What?

Starting at midnight (local) on Wed - that's late Tues here in the good ol' US and A - Iran started rationing gasoline for private vehicles. The government announced the rationing about three hours before it went into effect.

My first reaction was "HUH?" After all, Iran is one of the largest producers of petroleum in the world. However, it turns out they have very little refining capacity, and are forced to import about 40% of its gasoline.

I had NO idea. What a lovely little bit of leverage this gives the world in the matter of Iran's rogue nuclear program.

Which is apparently what the Iranian govt is thinking, as well.

The move was greeted with some real resistance, with gas stations being burned, civilians and police mixing it up, and stone-throwing youths shouting catchy phrases like "Guns, fireworks, tanks, Ahmadinejad should be killed."

In spite of the obvious unpopularity of the move, the Iranians are trying to take the gasoline hammer out of the West's hands, so they can continue to thumb their noses at the UN, the US, and everyone else when it comes to their nuclear ambitions.

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