Iran Turns Its Back on Petrol-only Cars
BBC: Iran has announced that it will stop producing purely petrol-driven cars and produce more dual-fuel vehicles, which also run on gas.

The minister of industries said the production of petrol-only cars would stop in just over two weeks' time.

Correspondents say it is not clear whether Iran can produce enough gas, or supply it to petrol stations.

The government introduced petrol rationing last week, a policy which provoked widespread anger and violence.

The move was an attempt to reduce the large subsidies the government spends on petrol and to limit the country's rising petrol consumption. Iran ends petrol-only car making (more)

Mark Alexander

”Ahmadinejad Is an Ass”
THE TELEGRAPH: The petitions kiosk outside President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's home in Teheran, set up as a hotline to Iran's self-described "humblest servant", receives all kinds of requests.

Yet amid the pleas for help with debts and joblessness, and tussles with Iran's byzantine bureaucracy, there is one letter that the men at the counter particularly remember. 

"A woman asked if Mr Ahmadinejad could find her a good husband," said one proudly. "It shows how popular he is - you would only request something like that if you really felt he'd become part of your family."

In this particular case, the president's office replied that it was beyond his powers - a rare admission of defeat from a leader whose personality cult rivals that of Iran's "supreme leader", Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Yet last week, two years after his election to power on a promise to help Iran's downtrodden masses, Mr Ahmadinejad, 49, finally learnt the downside of the demagogic approach - namely, that running a country of 69 million inhabitants as a one-man band involves taking blame as well as credit.

The issue was not over his notorious threats to "wipe Israel off the map", his defiance on Iran's nuclear programme, nor his puritanical desire to return to the early days of the Islamic revolution. Instead, the man who considers himself on a divine mission was floundering because of his inability to minister to one of his flock's most basic needs: petrol. Iran curses Ahmadinejad over petrol rationing (more) By Colin Freeman in Teheran

Mark Alexander

Signs of Unrest in Iran: Gangs of Youths Torch Petrol Stations Because of Fuel Rationing
TIMESONLINE: Gangs of youths torched petrol stations and long queues developed at pumps in Tehran after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced the start of fuel rationing, causing the kind of violent protests rarely seen in Iran.

Despite the Islamic Republic being Opec's No 2 oil producer, Mr Ahmadinejad announced yesterday evening that he was enforcing the rations from midnight last night.

Reading out an Oil Ministry statement, Iranian state television said that private cars would be rationed to 100 litres per month, while those using petrol and compressed natural gas would only be allowed 30 litres.

It added that the rationing would continue for four months and might be extended to six months. Separate quotas have also been introduced for municipal yellow taxis and privately-run taxi firms. Petrol stations torched in Iran after Ahmadinejad rations fuel (More) By David Byers and agencies

Mark Alexander