Last night, at a gas station on the corner of Azadi and Shadman streets, a violent clash broke out between drivers waiting in line for gasoline. Several drivers were injured and transported to hospital. Such discontent was visible in all of Tehran’s gas stations.

The midnight of last night was the deadline for drivers to fill up their tanks with the almost-free gasoline provided by the state. Many of those waiting in line last night to take advantage of the final hours of cheap fuel prices were taxi cab drivers, who are responsible for at least 50 percent of inner city transport.

Though gasoline rationing legislation was in the works for months, the sudden announcement of its enforcement caused chaos in Tehran. The news, which spread quickly, led to traffic jams caused by long lines of vehicles waiting to purchase gasoline. No gas station was immune from chaos last night.

Tehran’s police, firefighters, ambulances, and municipal offices were ready for action all night long. Since last week, gas stations have been busy and their long lines have been reminiscent of the Iran-Iraq War era. Sometimes more than a thousand vehicles stand in one line. Most vehicles belonged to cab drivers, who would fill up their tanks every night from the fear of the rationing legislation going into effect. Some had also begun to store cheap gasoline in tankers, a development that caused more than 200 fires in Tehran last week, injuring and killing several people.

But last night the story became serious. Traffic was so bad that vehicles were not even able to leave the lines. On the corner of Kurdistan and Azadi streets one driver took out a dagger to cut another’s chest open, but by-standers intervened to prevent the tragedy. In some areas of Tehran police were forced to fire bullets into the air to calm the situation. In other areas people chanted slogans such as, “canons, tanks, fire arms / Ahmadinejad must be dead.”

One driver says, “Sir, under my foot here there is lots of gasoline for my children and I. Why should gasoline be rationed?”

Another says, “Are you a journalist? Write down that we have been tricked again.”

In some areas of Tehran traffic was so bad that, like the first years after the revolution, drivers exited their vehicles and gathered on the sides of the street, booing police officers that were attempting to separate angry drivers from one another.

According to eyewitness accounts, clashes took place in gas stations on Resalat Street, Shariati Square, Fath Square, corner of Abureihan and Azadi streets, among other locations.

Meanwhile, rumor spread that, in a private meeting with Majlis [“Parliament”] deputies, the Interior Minister had announced that the government was preparing for more severe clashes and demonstrations.