The new Tehran international airport, already a financial pit, has seen its opening delayed again until May, officially because a rise in the price of jet fuel has sparked a row with airlines.
Following its ceremonial inauguration on February 1, more than 30 years after the actual beginning of work, to mark 25 years since the founder of the Islamic Republic returned from exile, Imam Khomeiny International Airport (IKIA) was scheduled to start handling international flights at the end of March.
But since then a series of setbacks has caused the date to be put off, first to April 20 and now to May 20.
"We are doing our best for the airport to be ready by then, but it requires the co-operation of all the official bodies," an advisor to the Iranian Civil Aviation body, Jafar Poursadeqian, was quoted by newspapers Saturday as saying.
Officially the cause of the delay is a drastic rise in jet fuel prices, but other reasons are also rumoured.
Press reports said fuel prices, fixed by the government at 600 rials (seven US cents) a litre until last month, had been raised to 1,895 rials (22 cents) and could reach 2,100 rials (24 cents).
The reports said this was because the oil ministry had given the supply contract to a new company, but the aviation authorities had been unable to strike a deal on prices because of problems supplying the new airport.
Poursadeqian said the price rise would inflict heavy losses on airlines, and blamed the oil ministry for giving the contract to a private company for the first time.
Iranian air transport is one of several areas of confrontation between those who advocate the privatisation of the economy and their opponents.
IKIA, located in the middle of the desert approximately 45 kilometres (27 miles) southwest of the capital, is designed to replace the congested airport of Mehrabad in the middle of Tehran. But it faces problems of supply and transport for both goods and passengers.
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