Bus drivers hold symbolic protest in Iran capital

Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Aug. 08 – Hundreds of bus drivers in Tehran left their vehicle lights on all day on Monday in solidarity with their fellow transit workers who had been suspended from work for taking part in anti-government protests. Iran Focus

Tehran, Iran, Aug. 08 – Hundreds of bus drivers in Tehran left their vehicle lights on all day on Monday in solidarity with their fellow transit workers who had been suspended from work for taking part in anti-government protests.

Buses across the Iranian capital had their lights on at all times of the day.

Some of the bus drivers went as far as explaining to passengers why they had chosen to leave their lights on.

In May, employees of the Tehran Bus Company held a 1,000-strong anti-government demonstration which was attacked by Iran’s State Security Forces (SSF).

Iranian authorities launched a heavy crackdown on the transit workers in January, arresting large numbers of bus drivers who had decided to go on strike.

In February, agents of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS), the country’s secret police, conducted night raids into the homes of striking bus drivers and workers in Tehran, arresting more than a thousand people on political charges.