Iran approves bill to cut food, fuel subsidies

TEHRAN: Iran's constitutional watchdog has approved a contentious bill that sharply slashes energy and food subsidies.

The law has the potential of stoking major unrest in a country struggling under international sanctions and an already two-digit inflation.

The semiofficial Fars news agency on Wednesday quoted the spokesman of the Guardian Council, Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei, as saying the oversight body approved the bill in its latest meeting. The official did not elaborate.

The law foresees a gradual cut in energy subsidies, bringing the heavily discounted fuel prices more in line with international prices.