Iran kick-started a subsidy reform plan in December 2010 that was originally drafted to be implemented in three phases over five years. Given the change of government in 2013 and irregularities in the implementation of the original plan by the previous administration of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (2005-13), the second phase was only initiated in April 2014.
This article looks at the incumbent administration of President Hassan Rouhani’s potential options for how to wind down the current program, which was supposed to involve the removal of blanket subsidies and instead direct payment of cash handouts to vulnerable social classes.