In early September 2022, Iranian Petroleum Minister Javad Owji warned of a cold winter and potential gas shortages. But he was addressing Europeans instead of his fellow citizens. “You are being badly governed,” the minister said in a televised interview, citing Europe’s worries that its industrial production and households would suffer due to reduced gas supplies from Russia due to sanctions in response to its invasion of Ukraine.
At the time, Iran offered itself as an alternative source of natural gas and saw its position strengthened in international talks to limit its nuclear program. “We have the world’s second-largest gas reserves and can supply Europe,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said in early September.
