Iranians endure power blackouts as war damage and heatwave cripple grid

Iranians across the country are enduring daily power blackouts as a severe heatwave and damage from renewed US military strikes collide with a grid weakened by chronic underinvestment, according to Al Jazeera (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/19/iranians-suffer-from-power-blackouts-during-war-and-heatwave). Students at Tehran's Sharif University of Technology told Al Jazeera that outages forced the postponement of 38 final exams after servers went offline.

National electricity company CEO Mohammad Allahdad confirmed a 4,200-megawatt drop in grid capacity and damage to more than 2,000 points across the network, Al Jazeera reported (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/19/iranians-suffer-from-power-blackouts-during-war-and-heatwave). Tehran City Council Chairman Mehdi Chamran said "electrical facilities were bombed two days ago" when asked about the unannounced outages, and local media reported US strikes on a power plant on Kish Island and damage to distribution networks in Bandar Abbas, Jask and Chabahar.

The crisis contradicts official assurances: just before the outbreak of the United States-Israel war on Iran in February, President Masoud Pezeshkian and Energy Minister Abbas Aliabadi promised a summer without disruptions, according to Al Jazeera (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/19/iranians-suffer-from-power-blackouts-during-war-and-heatwave). An Al Jazeera tour of Tehran found darkened digital billboards, police manually directing traffic at failed intersections, and small businesses relying on portable generators to save perishable goods.

Economists say the war has worsened a pre-existing deficit. Bahman Arman, a Tehran University economics professor and former ministry adviser, told Al Jazeera (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/19/iranians-suffer-from-power-blackouts-during-war-and-heatwave) that bombed steel plants and the Mahshahr petrochemical complex — once a source of power surplus — had become drains on the grid, while "chronic underinvestment," high energy losses and ageing transmission lines were the root cause.

The industrial toll is mounting: Hossein Selahvarzi, former head of the Iran Chamber of Commerce, warned that industrial zones face four to six hours of blackouts daily, slashing production, raising costs and halting exports, according to Al Jazeera (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/19/iranians-suffer-from-power-blackouts-during-war-and-heatwave). Hospitals have largely stayed online using backup systems, but residents describe a deepening crisis with no quick remedy ahead of recurring winter gas shortages.

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