Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has proposed temporarily closing some government offices during the winter and shifting their employees to remote work as the country faces the prospect of an energy imbalance.

“Even now we are thinking about this, and I have also spoken with the heads of state institutions about closing some [government] offices in winter and continuing their activities remotely. In this case, at least less electricity, gas and gasoline will be consumed, and traffic will be reduced. A lot can be done remotely,” the president said, Asriran reports.

Pezeshkian said the main obstacle is Iran’s outdated regulations, which require employees to spend eight hours a day physically present at their workplaces. He argued that these rules should be reviewed and coordinated with existing remote-work mechanisms.

The president said he had previously discussed with the late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei the possibility of keeping some government offices open for only two hours a day, allowing officials to address citizens’ problems during that time.

He also pointed to the period of conflict involving the United States and Israel, when government offices were closed without causing serious difficulties for the public.

“We can do this without reducing employees’ salaries while also cutting consumption of gasoline, gas, electricity and other expenses,” Pezeshkian said, adding that the measure would require only the willingness and readiness to act.