IranWire:

ROGHAYEH REZAEI

They died seeking relief from the heat.

Tara Younesi, 16, and Sadegh Khoshdel, 18, took shelter from the scorching weather inside a parked car after a power outage in southern Kavar - but they never came out alive.

The two teenagers died of carbon monoxide poisoning last week, victims of Iran’s deepening electricity crisis that has turned blackouts from an inconvenience into a deadly threat.

While Iranian citizens are dying from heat and power-related accidents, the Islamic Republic continues to export electricity to neighboring countries without interruption.

"You wouldn’t believe it - since I saw the video of those two teenagers, I haven’t had a moment of peace at work," said Mina, a single mother in Tehran. "I’m constantly afraid and stressed that something terrible might happen to my children."

This summer in Iran has been marked by rolling blackouts, heat-related deaths, and mounting public anger over the government’s handling of the crisis.

In addition to the Kavar deaths, a gas explosion killed several children after power fluctuations caused a leak, which ignited when electricity was restored.

“The power shortage problem in Iran is not only about production, exports, or consumption,” said one energy researcher. “We are dealing with an old, inefficient, irresponsible, and uncommitted system.”

Iran continues to sell electricity to Afghanistan and Pakistan, and until recently to Iraq, while importing power from Turkmenistan, and Caucasus neighbors Armenia, and Azerbaijan.

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