WANA (Jun 30) – In recent days, with the unprecedented rise in temperature and the onslaught of an intense heatwave across the European continent, a distinct and analytical trend has emerged among Iranian social media users.

 

By publishing videos and notes, these users express their astonishment at a recurring news story during European summers: how wealthy and developed European countries, despite their claims of progress, face massive casualties due to heat every year, solely because many of their homes lack a simple cooling system.

 

According to the official announcement by the World Health Organization (WHO), in just a 10-day period, more than 1,300 people in Europe lost their lives due to the hot weather. This staggering statistic portrays a major structural contradiction for observers in Iran.

An Iranian user’s post on X, saying: “I will never understand this whole thing about European heatwaves and people dying! It gets hot everywhere else in the world… Ahvaz, Saudi Arabia, the middle of Australia, Arizona, Texas… why should people die? Just stay home, drink plenty of water, take cold showers, don’t go out in the afternoon, and turn on the AC… This news is always so bizarre to me.” Social media / WANA News Agency

The main question is how countries that claim global leadership in science and economics lack the ability to keep their citizens cool in the summer heat—even as data from the global meteorological service (Ogimet) shows that Iranian cities are practically at the top of the hottest places on Earth.

 

Indeed, during these very days, the city of Zabol, with an average temperature of, was the hottest city in the world, and five other Iranian cities, including Tabas, Bafq, Dehloran, and Bam, were simultaneously ranked among the top 10 hottest cities in the world.

 

For the people of Iran, who live in such a scorching climate and whose country grapples with severe geopolitical pressures, heavy economic sanctions, and even threats and damages inflicted upon the electricity distribution network during the recent war, the idea of not having or not turning on an air conditioner due to a weak household meter is completely unbelievable.

Of course, this does not mean that Iran’s energy grid is without challenges; Iran has also faced serious energy supply imbalances in recent years and has even experienced scheduled, hourly power outages during peak summer consumption days.

 

However, the key point here is that in Iran’s residential electricity system, the concept of a “contractual capacity limit” that automatically cuts off a household’s power as soon as several appliances are turned on simultaneously is entirely foreign.

 

The structure of the domestic grid in Iran is designed in such a way that a family can simultaneously run the air conditioner, refrigerator, and other appliances without fear of tripping the main meter fuse, and ultimately, the decision on how to consume energy at home rests with the citizens themselves.

 

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In contrast, the reality inside European homes is tied to a legal and technical mechanism known as “contractual capacity” or smart limiting systems. In countries such as Italy, Spain, and France, when purchasing a subscription, the consumer must choose a specific consumption ceiling (for example, a 3 kW contract, which is still common in millions of Italian homes).

 

The lower this ceiling, the lower the fixed cost of the bill. However, according to major energy companies like Enel and ENGIE Italia, if the simultaneous consumption of appliances (such as an electric oven, washing machine, and air conditioner) exceeds this 3 kW threshold, smart meters automatically cut off power to the entire house.

 

A similar system exists in Spain called Potencia Contratada, and the company Endesa explicitly warns of immediate power disconnection if the contractual limit is exceeded. Even in the traditional urban fabric of major European cities, the local grid cannot handle high electrical loads, and Iranians living in Europe have frequently noted that even if they buy an air conditioner, the building or neighborhood fuse constantly trips.

Another shocking point is the management of consumption and the cost of this energy. According to data from the Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat), Europe has the most expensive residential electricity market in the world; Ireland tops the list with a staggering price of 50.76 euro cents per kilowatt-hour, followed by Germany and Belgium.

 

This comes at a time when, according to statistics from the Visual Capitalist database, Iran has the cheapest residential electricity in the world, with an average price of about $0.003 per kilowatt-hour.

 

On the other hand, the model of consumption management also differs across these two geographies. In Iran’s residential sector, the government uses incentive policies such as the “Bargh-e Omid” (Electricity of Hope) scheme (offering discounts and free bills for low-consumption users).

Instead, it draws its red line at the administrative and institutional sector; the electricity department cracks down severely on high-consuming government offices and organizations, cutting off their power after issuing warnings in order to reduce pressure on the residential grid.

 

This persistent heatwave has revealed a bitter irony in the media space. While Europe navigates through exorbitant costs, high human casualties, and restrictive contractionary limits on household consumption, people in Iran, despite all the infrastructure challenges, enjoy a level of freedom in residential energy consumption for cooling that many Europeans are currently deprived of.

 

This narrative reminds the global audience that the concept of development is not always uniform, and sometimes the physical comfort that is taken for granted in one part of the world is a structural and unattainable luxury in another.

 

Another Iranian user’s post on X, saying: “The recent heatwave in Europe has once again shown that Europeans are completely defenseless and left to fend for themselves against the heat. Meanwhile, despite being under the harshest US and European sanctions, Iran continues to make extensive efforts to provide the necessary infrastructure for normal daily life, including electricity in the summer and gas in the winter. We should appreciate Iran.” Social media/ WANA News Agency