Iran’s mullahs panic from truckers’ strike

Iran’s mullahs panic from truckers’ strike

Iran’s truckers went to strike in protest the low wages, high cost of spare parts, tire

Analysis by PMOI/MEK

Iran, Oct. 9, 2018 - The Friday prayers being run every week in Iran’s cities by the representatives of the Iranian regime’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, came under an atmosphere of fear this week. Mullahs in different cities revealed their fear from the nationwide truckers’ strike that started on September 23. Iran’s truckers started the movement in protest to the low wages, systematic corruption in state-run terminals and transportation cycle, and also the high cost of spare parts, tire, etc.

Kazem Seddiqi, the cleric who held the Friday prayers in Tehran, delivered a fearful speech in Tehran, attacking Hassan Rouhani, the regime’s president, accusing his administration and the ministry of transportation of not taking proper measures to stop the strike from happening. “Truckers should be aware not to act as a pawn for enemies,” Seddiqi warned.

Mohammad Al-e Hashem, the Friday prayer leader of Tabriz, could not hide his fear as well. “We will face a serious dilemma if the truckers do not receive their answers in time.” He also pointed out to this nationwide strike and its supports in different strata, saying, “Enemies of Islamic Republic are trying to take advantage of this strike to make more tensions in the society.”

Meanwhile, Iranian regime officials tried to handle the situation by all means to put an end to this strike.

Hasan Nejad, a member of the parliament’s Economy Commission, warned about the explosive state of the society. “Under the mismanagement of the currency, we don’t have smuggled imports anymore! We have smuggled exports! We must be ashamed. Why should truckers start a strike so that we, lawmakers and governors, understand that the country needs the tire for trucks?”

On October 2, MP Kazem Delkhosh named the popular governmental embezzlement as “mismanagement.” While trying to downplay the truckers’ demands in the public session of the parliament, he said, “They exaggerate some small problems and it is because of the mismanagement… truckers’ problems are not so complicated that they can’t be handled. They have some insurance problems.”

Majid Mohtashami, a regime official tied to Rouhani’s faction, pointed out to the hoarding of tons of tires in the country. “Now we have tons of tires in Rajaee harbor’s warehouse, in Bandar Abbas southern Iran, and in ships’ stores as well. We have had no problem in this regard, but now we are facing many problems in distributing such items due to mismanagement.”

It is worth mentioning that hoarding and the distribution of such items is under the control of governmental gangs including IRGC.

 

Why do the regime’s officials fear the truckers’ strike?

Normally the regime responds to any protest and strikes with an iron fist, but what the world is witnessing now is a nationwide strike, spread across 320 cities in 31 provinces. Moreover, the regime can’t extinguish the fire of the strike yet with its oppressive measures such as arresting, intimidating or threatening the strikers.

Truck Drivers strike in Shahreza

Also worth noting is that the truck drivers’ strike has triggered a similar movement by the merchants of bazaars in various cities, which started on October 8. Now the ruling mullahs that a domino effect will cause more strikes and protests and the situation will spin beyond the control of their suppressive forces. This is what the regime fears the most, and that is why they try not to use violence against the truckers because they’re afraid that the strike will transform into an uprising.

These strikes depict the regime’s failure in responding to the people’s demands crying for their minimum to live in dignity.

On the one hand, the regime cannot give up corruption, the export of terrorism and fundamentalism, and its survival depends on funding its proxies in foreign countries at all costs. But on the other hand, according to reports of state-run media in Iran, over 50 percent of people in Iran are under the poverty line. So more protests and uprisings are on the way and cannot be stopped, and the regime is in a dead end.

Now the spirit of solidarity in Iran is growing in all strata of the society, and all these economic protests are combining with nationwide political demand which is the democratic regime change in Iran.