Deputy Oil Minister Jalil Salari earlier said there were problems with the cards Iranians use to buy subsidised petrol.
Following the system failure, petrol stations “disconnected the online system” and fuel was being supplied offline, Salari said.
Monday’s disruption caused long car queues outside some stations in Tehran while others were completely closed, according to an Agence France-Presse correspondent.
Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi called for an investigation and urged “immediate measures” to resolve the crisis.
Authorities formed a “crisis committee”, and announced that repairs were under way to fix the fuel distribution system and that pumps would work manually “until further notice”.
China urges Iran and Saudi Arabia to work together to ‘avoid miscalculation’
China urges Iran and Saudi Arabia to work together to ‘avoid miscalculation’
Iran suffered a similar week-long disruption in October 2021 which officials blamed on an unprecedented cyberattack by outside actors.
Fuel cards were first introduced in 2007 with a view to reforming the subsidies system and curbing large-scale smuggling.
Iran’s economy has been battered both by external pressure and internal mismanagement. In 2018, the US withdrew from a landmark nuclear agreement and reimposed sanctions that had been lifted for a few years.
The US and Israel accuse Iran of orchestrating attacks against allied forces and ships in the region.