Iran orders office closures as heatwave strains power grid

TEHRAN (AFP): Iranian authorities ordered many government offices to close on Wednesday in a bid to cut power consumption as a heatwave strains generating capacity, state media reported.

At least 15 of Iran’s 31 provinces will see public offices either shut or operating on reduced hours, the official IRNA news agency said.

Provinces affected include West Azerbaijan and Ardabil in the northwest, Hormozgan in the south, and Alborz in the north, as well as the capital Tehran.

Tehran governor Mohammad Sadegh Motamedian said the closures came at the request of the energy ministry and were intended to “manage energy consumption in the water and electricity sectors”, state television said.

Emergency and frontline services will remain open, it added.

Elevated temperatures that began in mid-July have strained Iran’s power grid, prompting rolling blackouts nationwide as temperatures topped 50C in the south.

Authorities in Tehran have also reduced mains water pressure to manage falling reservoir levels, as the country endures what Iranian media have described as the worst drought in a century.