Power Outages Hit Iran's Presidential Election Headquarters

Iran’s presidential election headquarters, housed within the ministry of interior, suffered multiple power outages affecting its operations three times on Saturday.

The blackouts have become a symbol of Iran’s broader struggle with an aging and inefficient power grid, impacting everything from ordinary households and industrial centers to major public events and now, political campaigns.

As Vahid Haghanian, a senior figure in the Office of the Supreme Leader, was delivering a speech after registering his candidacy, the lights went out, plunging the event into darkness in front of live media and audience.

The incident has fueled mockery and criticism on social media, with commentators highlighting the irony of power failures amid election promises to solve infrastructure decay.

Critics argue that rather than witnessing progress, Iran is merely scrambling to patch up its crumbling infrastructure. Power cuts are also the result of energy shortage that affects Iran during hot summer and cold winter months, despite the country having the world's second largest natural gas reserves.

The power crisis has already caused disruptions in the industrial sector, triggering a drop in production and rising costs due to frequent power cuts and voltage instability.

Recent data from Iranian officials show a sharp decline in the country’s net electricity exports, attributed to several factors, including high domestic consumption fueled by heavily subsidized electricity rates, which the government fears to adjust due to potential public unrest.

Furthermore, the Iranian government's economic policies, marked by inefficiency and mismanagement, along with the impact of international sanctions, have deteriorated the energy sector's performance.