Iranian President Masoud Peshkeshian had to take a taxi to reach Tabriz after all the vehicles in his official convoy broke down during a recent trip, a senior government official said.
According to the president’s special inspector, Mustafa Molavi, the incident occurred near Takestan in Qazvin province, where the president and his three security team vehicles stopped en route. The vehicles had refueled at a roadside petrol pump near the Rasht exit, as reported by Iran International.
Molavi said: “Our investigation revealed that the petrol pump was dispensing poor-quality fuel mixed with water. This was not the first incident — the pump has been targeted for similar violations before.”
Although the technical malfunction halted the convoy, President Peshkeshian refused to seek help from local authorities and completed his journey to Tabriz in a private taxi. Molavi added: “He neither contacted the provincial governor nor requested any help.”
The National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company (NIOPDC) later confirmed that the pump had previously received complaints about fuel quality, but it did not explain why it was still operating.
The president’s office and the oil ministry have not yet issued any public statements on the incident.
Fuel complaints persist in Iran
Fuel contamination remains a persistent problem across Iran. Drivers often complain of watered-down gasoline and tampered pump meters, which show discrepancies between the amount of fuel dispensed and the price charged.
Although videos of the problems have been widely circulated on social media, energy officials deny any widespread malfunctions in the country.
