Iran: Frozen! · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Iran is facing an exceptionally cold winter. Snow has trapped many cities and at least eight people have lost their lives. Even gas supplies have been disrupted although Iran is the second richest gas country in the world. Millions of people are deprived of heating.
Several bloggers have provided photos from “frozen cities”, shared their stories, and criticised the government for mismanagement of crisis.
Photo of the city of Rasht in northern Iran from from Kourosh Ziabari blog.
Nik Ahang Kosar, cartoonist and blogger, published a cartoon criticising the government's indifference to people without a home in Iran. The caption has a homeless man saying homeless people in Palestine and Lebanon are lucky, because Iran helps them.
Raze No (means “new secret”) says [Fa] most roads and airports are closed because of bad weather. The blogger adds that in the next two days, schools and offices are closed in Tehran and many cities. The blogger has also published a series of photos from frozen Tehran.
Akbar Montakhabi, blogger and journalist, writes [Fa]:
“Several cities in the northern part of Iran are frozen and their gas supply has been disrupted. There is also a shortage of bread in cities. In such critical circumstances, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has asked people to reduce their energy consumption and wear warmer clothes.”
Otopia has published [Fa] a couple of photos of a long queue of people waiting to get milk. The blogger asks “Who can believe this country exports $100 barrels of oil?” Otopia says people waited 1-2 hours outdoors to buy milk.
Uzakyol says [Fa] there is a clear difference in how Turkey managed a recent gas shortage. While several cities in Iran are deprived of gas, Turkey managed the crisis. The blogger says the difference is that gas is in the hands of the government in Iran, while in Turkey the private sector is more flexible in finding solutions.
Jomhour writes [Fa]:
“In a statement, the government announced that all public buildings, schools, and … are closed except banks, the presidents’ office, and health care centers. It is another attempt to promote the image of the Iranian president.”