Power outages test Ramadan resolve in Tehran

Lack of power leaves residents of Iranian capital sweltering without air-conditioning at the height of summer, or even TV to while away they hours until they are allowed to quench their thirst.

A family in Tehran breaks their Ramadan fast by candlelight after their electricity supply cut off in one of the Iranian capital's continual power cuts. Maryam Rahmanian for The National / July 17, 2014Show less

TEHRAN // A combination of long days and regular power outages appear to have weakened the resolve of Tehran’s residents to observe the strict rules of Ramadan fasting, despite the threat of severe punishment if caught.

With Ramadan falling in mid-summer this year, the day-long fast from the morning call to prayer until the evening call to prayer lasts almost 16 hours, and daytime temperatures hover about 40°C.

“It is very difficult to fast in this weather,” said Bahador, chewing gum as he served customers in a municipality-run fruit shop that was experiencing a power outage.

“I used to fast in my hometown because people believe in Islam from the bottom of their heart. But in Tehran, life is becoming more difficult every day and people find ways to escape rules,” said the 31-year-old, a Kurdish Sunni Muslim who moved to Tehran two years ago from Kermanshah in western Iran in search of better pay.

The electricity shortage has made the fast even more arduous, depriving Tehran’s residents of not just air conditioning but also television and the traditional Ramadan soap operas, which help to pass the time.

Power outages, which were rare last summer, this year occur every two to three days in each neighbourhood and last for up to five hours .

Over the past few months officials had warned residents about potential power outages and water shortages in the hot season and asked them to reduce their consumption. But they appear to have been ignored.

According to the energy ministry, Tehran’s residents have been consuming 11 per cent more electricty this month than last July.

Appeals to reduce electricity consumption are still being issued almost every night on state television. Officials say this will prevent sudden blackouts in parts of the city and allow all citizens to watch programmes produced specifically for iftar time, as well as prevent power rationing for the rest of the summer.

This Ramadan, people’s attention has also been focused on the government’s efforts to reach a nuclear deal with western powers, with July 20 the original deadline for an agreement. Speculation about whether foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and other Iranian negotiators would succeed has been a main topic of discussion at family iftar gatherings.

The deadline for a deal has now been extended by four months, but a failure could have meant a tightening of western sanctions that crippled the government’s finances and created hardships for ordinary Iranians.

“Which one is more risky for the Islamic republic, me smoking a cigarette in Ramadan or Zarif losing the nuclear talks to the US?” said Davood, a 54-year-old clerk in Iran’s ministry of sport and youth, smoking under a tree hours before sunset.

Despite the difficult conditions, Iranian authorities are sending the message that they will punish offenders as they have in previous years.

“Police will definitely react against those who do not observe the values of Ramadan,” Iran’s police chief, Esmail Ahamdi Moghadam, warned a fews days before the start of the holy month.

The head of Tehran’s security police, Colonel Alireza Mehrabi, also said police would seize the cars of anyone caught breaking the rules inside their vehicles.

Under Iran’s Islamic law, smoking, eating or drinking in public during daylight hours in the month of Ramadan is punishable with fines and lashes, but many citizens seem unconcerned about the possible consequences of flouting the rules.

In another sign of a laxer approach to Ramadan this year, some public swimming pools have been opening in the daytime and people are using them even though – except for children who have not reached the age of compulsory fasting – it is forbidden to be immersed in water during the daytime.

“I was shocked to see that the pool was open and women were swimming. Even the pool’s cafe was open and people were buying snacks,” said Fariba, 40, who took her daughter to a pool in Tehranpars, in eastern Tehran.

But not everyone is evading punishment. Local news sites have posted dozens of pictures of people being arrested or fined for breaking the fasting rules, though it is not clear how many have been punished in Tehran.

Last week two men were publicly flogged in the city of Shiraz in south central Fars province for eating during fasting hours.

“Each of the men received 80 lashes,” Ahmad-Ali Goudarzi, the provincial police chief, told Iranian media. He warned that the police would act against other violators as well.