Iran’s Head of Department of the Environment has announced that gasoline produced by petrochemical plants have been completely banned across the country.
IRNA reports that Massoumeh Ebtekar said in a speech in Qom on Monday September 22 that petrochemical gasoline, which the former administration referred to as “self-sufficient gasoline”, has been completely eliminated from distribution.
She added that gasoline standards, which had been completely neglected for the past nine years, are now fully in place, and auto manufacturers are required to follow Euro 4 standards.
The Ahmadinejad administration turned to petrochemical facilities to compensate for gasoline shortages triggered by international sanctions on Iran’s oil and financial sectors.
It was later confirmed that the gasoline produced by these products contained cancer-causing compounds such as benzene, producing highly hazardous air pollution.
According to Ebtekar, the ban on petrochemical gasoline has already proved highly effective in improving air quality in most large cities.
