On Sunday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Iranian officials had told the Syrian regime that it must now pay more for additional oil shipments, which would double the market price of over $70 a barrel.
Iran has also refused to deliver new shipments and asked the regime to pay in advance for new oil supplies, the newspaper quoted sources close to the issue as saying,
Every day, residents of Damascus queue for hours at gas stations and in front of bakeries. The cost of transportation has soared, straining the struggling economy as commodity prices rise.
Last month, the government closed some administrative offices for several days to save energy. Many factories are also closing as they struggle to find fuel to power generators amidst a scarcity of electricity.
The worst affected by the crisis are the poor, many of whom are now burning wood and pistachio husks for cooking and heating. Syrian households have historically relied on fuel to power their heaters, but prices have risen fivefold in the past year. This is unsustainable for most families, who are already suffering from rising inflation and the devaluation of the local currency, which fell to a record low last month.
Last June, the chief of staff of the opposition organization United Against Nuclear Iran said that Syria is the number two destination for Iranian oil. The value of oil shipments during May 2022, according to oil prices at the time, amounted to about $400 million. It was not clear whether or not the Syrian regime paid the full market value of these shipments.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
