Truck drivers and operators of heavy vehicles in Iran went on strike for the fourth consecutive day on Sunday, May 25. Government agents attacked some of the protesters and arrested several drivers.
Images and videos shared on social media show widespread strikes in dozens of cities across the provinces of South Khorasan, Ardabil, Bushehr, Sistan and Baluchestan, Gilan, Fars, Isfahan, Qazvin, West Azerbaijan, Yazd, and Razavi Khorasan.
The Union of Truckers and Heavy Vehicle Drivers of Iran, in a statement on Sunday, May 25, reported that the police used pepper spray on some of their members and arrested several individuals.
The new wave of protests by truck drivers began on May 19 in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, where the strikers blocked the port’s entry and exit points.
Continued Protests of Iranian Retirees and Workers on the Eve of International Workers’ Day
By May 22, the strike became coordinated, and truckers in the cities of Arak, Ilam, Bandar Abbas, Tabriz, Sirjan, Shiraz, and Kermanshah also stopped working.
The protesting drivers stated that they are striking for one week in protest against the reduction of their diesel fuel quotas, high insurance costs, low freight rates, and other unmet industry demands.
Government Responses to the Strikes
Although state media in recent days attempted to portray freight transport in Iran as “normal and calm,” the widespread truckers’ strike drew reactions from Iranian regime officials.
Mehdi Khezri, deputy of Iranian regime’s Road Maintenance and Transportation Organization, promised on May 25 that drivers’ basic fuel quotas would remain unchanged and that the issue of quota reductions would be reconsidered.
He also pledged to resolve the truckers’ insurance issues, stating that meetings had been held with the Social Security Organization and the Ministry of Interior, and that the matter would be presented to the Cabinet to apply insurance discounts for the drivers.
However, Mohammad Mohammadi, the Iranian regime’s deputy for insurance affairs at the Social Security Organization, stated that the government will continue to pay 50% of the 27% insurance premium for drivers as before, and that this arrangement has not changed.
Fars News Agency, which is affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), dismissed reports of truckers’ insurance premiums multiplying as “rumors.” It claimed that the only change since the start of this year is a limitation on government subsidies up to the minimum annual wage as defined in the regime’s Seventh Development Plan.
