Frequent and prolonged power outages are disrupting daily life and commerce across several major Iranian cities, including Ahvaz in the country’s southwest and Mashhad in the northeast. In recent weeks, business owners have been compelled to shutter their shops as repeated blackouts cripple cash registers, air conditioning units, and other essential electrical appliances, pushing an already strained economy into deeper hardship. With temperatures soaring and digital transactions made impossible by accompanying internet outages, many storekeepers are left operating only because they lack the power necessary to close their electric doors—a telling indicator of the depth of Iran’s infrastructural crisis. Iranian cities, particularly in the country’s south and northeast, are experiencing a new wave of power disruptions that have exposed fundamental weaknesses in the nation’s energy grid. According to energy sector analysts cited by Reuters and the International Energy Agency, the Iranian electricity system is buckling under the combined weight of outdated infrastructure, years of underinvestment, and record-breaking summer heat. In Ahvaz, shopkeepers told local media and independent economic researchers that blackouts occur without warning, often multiple times a day, immediately halting business activity and making working environments intolerable.
Residents without reliable electricity are further hampered by failing internet connections, which limit the ability to use digital payment applications. As a result, ordinary transactions become impossible and commercial activity stalls. Business owners are resorting to costly and inefficient workarounds: social videos from Mashhad show store operators pooling resources to purchase private generators as a temporary measure. However, these generators are expensive to buy and operate, generate significant noise, and are unreliable over extended periods. The extra expense is ultimately passed on to customers, worsening economic pressures on families already grappling with inflation, unemployment, and declining purchasing power. Local reports and social media statements highlight the acute hardship faced by small business owners and consumers alike, as the cost of doing business rises and the value of each rial diminishes. The blackout crisis comes amid mounting evidence of prolonged infrastructural neglect by Iranian authorities, amplified by resources being diverted to military spending and regional proxy campaigns.
While Iranian officials have cited high seasonal demand and international sanctions as core reasons for the ongoing outages, observers from Western governments, the World Bank, and independent Iranian economists have pointed to decades of mismanagement and corruption within the energy sector. Since the early years of the Islamic Republic, a significant share of Iran’s governmental budget has been allocated to supporting external proxy organizations—including Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis—as well as the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) itself, rather than to vital domestic needs like grid renewal or basic public services. These strategic choices, made by Iran’s Supreme Leader and top decision-makers, have left the civilian sector exposed and increasingly vulnerable, eroding social trust and deepening popular frustration. On-the-ground interviews compiled by international human rights monitors and broadcast via Persian-language satellite media show a population grappling with the effects of neglect as nearly every urban system dependent on power—ranging from health care to transportation and education—breaks down during outages.
The implications for Iran’s struggling economy are profound. According to the World Bank and the Economist Intelligence Unit, small and medium-sized urban businesses—viewed as engines of job creation—are particularly exposed. Food spoilage during outages threatens livelihoods and public health, while sudden losses of power in clinics, pharmacies, and other health facilities present significant risks to patient care. The middle class, traditionally a buffer of stability and technical capacity, is confronted with rising operating costs and declining revenues, fueling a trend of emigration among skilled professionals. Civil society activists, referencing reports by Transparency International, have repeatedly highlighted endemic corruption and a lack of government transparency as major contributors to the ongoing crisis. Their calls for accountability have grown increasingly urgent as the duration and frequency of blackouts escalates.
The government’s insistence that international sanctions are solely to blame for these troubles is only partially supported by independent research. While Western restrictions on energy-sector investment have limited access to advanced technology and replacement parts, numerous assessments—including those by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran—conclude that domestic economic mismanagement and prioritization of regional activities over infrastructure have been decisive. The Iranian regime’s continued investment in regional proxies and missile programs is often cited by U.S. and EU officials as indicative of its preference for confrontation over reform, undermining both domestic welfare and regional stability. This prioritization has, over decades, undermined the resilience of Iran’s energy, medical, and information networks, fueling cycles of discontent and protest.
The crisis in Iran stands in stark contrast to the situation among Western-aligned states in the Middle East, such as Israel and the Gulf Arab monarchies, where significant investments have been made in energy security and redundancy. According to recent analyses published by the International Energy Agency and the U.S. Department of State, these countries have prioritized reinforcing grids, expanding renewable energy, and deploying digital tools for system resilience. Israel, in particular, has rapidly expanded its distributed energy resources and integrated smart grid technologies, enabling it to maintain reliable power even under missile attack or cyber threat. This reflects not only technological investment but also a political culture in which civilian infrastructures are prioritized as matters of both economic necessity and national security.
Iran’s blackout crisis is thus both an immediate humanitarian emergency and a symptom of deeper structural malaise. Even as daily life is upended for millions, underlying trends such as the outflow of talent, the decline in business formation, and the breakdown in public services point to long-term risks for the Islamic Republic’s cohesion and economic viability. Business leaders, interviewed clandestinely to avoid official reprisal, describe growing resentment toward authorities and skepticism about the government’s willingness or ability to address the crisis. International media, including the BBC Persian Service and Voice of America, report that many Iranians see the outages as a potent symbol of a broader pattern whereby regime stability and external activism are pursued at the expense of domestic welfare and quality of life.
The regional ramifications are also significant. Chronic infrastructure failure within Iran threatens not only its own population but also its trading partners, border communities, and the stability of the wider Gulf region. As the regime doubles down on external military activities—including support for groups designated as terrorist organizations by the United States and European Union—the gaps in basic services at home continue to widen. Analysts from the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) in Israel, as well as leading Western think tanks, warn that a weakened, internally unstable Iran could become more likely to lash out regionally, amplifying existing tensions and perpetuating cycles of violence.
Events in Ahvaz and Mashhad underscore the central role of civilian infrastructure in safeguarding societal stability and national resilience. International organizations, including the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), stress that energy security is a cornerstone of the modern social contract. When governments fail to deliver reliable utilities, populations are left increasingly exposed to hardship and unpredictable disruptions. As Iran’s crisis deepens, calls for transparency, reform, and reallocation of national resources toward domestic needs are likely to grow louder. Without substantial policy shifts and investment in upgrading the national grid, the current cycle of disruption and hardship will persist, eroding both economic opportunity and public trust in the years to come.
