Tehran, November 26 (RHC)-- A large foreign embassy in the Iranian capital Tehran is using record amounts of cheap electricity, a report shows, amid calls that Iran should change its rules on subsidizing energy for non-citizens.

The report by the Fars news agency has shown that the unidentified embassy in Tehran, which is housed in a large mansion in the city, had consumed nearly 106,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity since the start of the current calendar year in late March.

That equals to the supply needed to power a neighborhood of 63 houses in Tehran, the report said, adding that the electricity consumed by the embassy is up to 83 times higher than the consumption of a normal customer in Iran’s household and business sector.

It said that power industry sources had nicknamed the embassy “Tehran’s electricity viper," adding that neither the government nor the embassy in question had done anything to bring down the consumption since it was first reported in the media in July this year.

A reader commented on the report by Fars saying the irrational use of electricity in the embassy could be the result of energy-intensive crypto-mining practices.

That comes as Iran’s state electricity company has introduced scheduled power cuts for customers in large cities like Tehran amid a shortage of alternative energy feedstock at the country’s gas-fired power plants.

That has prompted public calls for a suspension of energy subsidies given to foreigners living in Iran.

A report published last week by Fars showed that nearly 5 million Afghan refugees living in Iran are benefitting from more than $3 billion worth of annual energy subsidies.