Syria's fuel price protests
Sharp fuel-price increases triggered Syria's largest street demonstrations since the Assad government's fall roughly two years earlier. The authorities raised diesel by about 40 percent (to roughly $1.43 a liter) and gasoline by 25-28 percent, citing global cost pressures tied to the Iran war and ongoing repairs at the Baniyas refinery, which officials hope to expand from 80,000 to 130,000 barrels a day of capacity. Protesters burned tires and blocked a major highway between Hasaka and Deir ez-Zor, with demonstrations also reported in Aleppo, Hama and other towns; Syria's parliament summoned the energy minister to explain the hikes. Analysts described the unrest as reflecting broader frustration that sanctions relief and reintegration into the global economy under President Ahmed al-Sharaa's government have not yet eased everyday costs for a population where roughly 90 percent live in poverty, even as officials point to World Bank grants and eased Western sanctions as evidence of progress.
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