Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 15
By Fatih Karimov - Trend:
The deputy director of Iran's Standards Organization Vahid Marandi-Moqaddam says both gasoline which is produced domestically and gasoline which is imported to the country are substandard.
Vahid Marandi-Moqaddam said that a confidential report about the quality of Iranian-made and imported gasoline has been submitted to the administration, Iran's Mehr news agency reported on Feb. 15.
"Although the quality of gasoline is not bad in general, but according to the report, both gasoline which is produced domestically and gasoline which is imported to the country are substandard," he said.
Naser Sajjadi, managing director of National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company, said on Feb. 14 that some 30 percent of gasoline which is sold on Iran's market meets euro-4 standards.
He added that 18-20 million liters of euro-4 gasoline is being supplied to the market per day.
Currently, euro-4 gasoline is being supplied to four cities of Tehran, Isfahan, Arak, and Karaj, he said, adding that euro-4 gasoline will be supplied to eight big cities by the end of the current Iranian fiscal year (March 20).
Euro-4 is a globally-accepted European emission standard for the production of vehicle fuel with significantly low amounts of sulfur.
Iran used to import 40 percent of its needed gasoline by 2009. But, the international sanctions forced it to produce gasoline domestically through adding lead or some poisonous chemical catalysts such as MTBE to the product.
MTBE is a highly poisonous substance which causes cancer. It is banned worldwide to be used for gasoline production.
The administration of President Rouhani ordered to stop the distribution of substandard gasoline.
Rouhani said that the situation has improved in large cities which are being supplied with euro-4 gasoline.