A nationwide truck drivers’ strike in Iran entered its fourth day on Sunday, with protests spreading to dozens of cities and major highways despite a police crackdown and arrests.
The Union of Iranian Truckers and Heavy Vehicle Drivers said in a statement on Sunday that police used pepper spray on protesting drivers and arrested several of them.
Launched on May 22 in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, the coordinated protest has since spread widely across the country, with truckers pledging to hold out for a full week or longer if their demands remain unmet.
Drivers are demanding better working conditions, higher freight rates, and relief from high insurance costs and fuel restrictions.
On Sunday, drivers in the southeastern cities of Jiroft and Sirjan, the western cities of Shabab in Ilam province and Asadabad in Hamadan province, and several locations in Tehran province, including Pakdasht, joined the strike.
Videos show parked freight trucks, drivers refusing cargo, and protest actions such as horn-blaring. The strike has disrupted traffic on key highways and industrial zones.
Footage received by Iran International on Sunday showed strikes continuing in cities across the provinces of South Khorasan, Ardabil, Bushehr, Sistan and Baluchestan, Gilan, Fars, Isfahan, Qazvin, West Azarbaijan, Yazd, and Razavi Khorasan.
Government response
Despite state media efforts to portray freight operations as normal, the scale of the strike has prompted responses from senior officials.
Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf on Sunday called truckers a “key link in the production and supply chain” and urged the government to act quickly. He cited high costs of vehicles and spare parts, insurance burdens, and unfair freight distribution.
Mehdi Khezri, deputy head of the Road Maintenance and Transportation Organization, said base fuel quotas would remain unchanged and that the issue was under review.
He added that meetings were being held with the Social Security Organization and the interior ministry, and that a cabinet-level proposal to reduce insurance costs was under discussion.
Khezri acknowledged that a 45% rise in insurance premiums earlier this year had triggered discontent.
Mohammad Mohammadi, deputy head of the Social Security Organization, said the government continues to pay 50% of the 27% insurance contribution for truckers and that this had not changed.
The IRGC-affiliated Fars News Agency called reports of steep insurance hikes “rumors.”
Previous truckers' strikes
Iran’s truck drivers have staged several large-scale strikes in the past.
Last April, truck owners across Iran started a strike to protest the reduction of fares and fuel quota.
In 2018, drivers across dozens of cities stopped work for several weeks over low freight rates, high insurance costs, and access to parts, leading to arrests and government warnings.
In 2022, truckers again walked off the job in solidarity with nationwide protests following the death of Mahsa Amini, who died in police custody over an alleged hijab violation.
The award for his film It Was Just an Accident, hailed as a milestone for Iranian cinema and a symbolic victory for freedom of expression, also sparked harsh criticism from pro-government media in Iran.
Panahi, a former political prisoner banned from travel and filmmaking for over a decade, received a standing ovation at the award ceremony.
The Palme d'Or was presented by acclaimed actress Cate Blanchett on Saturday night. In his acceptance speech, Panahi struck a unifying tone, calling on Iranians inside and outside the country to "set aside our differences" and work collectively toward democracy, dignity and human rights.
“Let no one tell us what to wear, what to do or what films to make,” he said, drawing repeated applause from the audience.
The moment was described by French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot as a "symbolic act of resistance" against repression. “Jafar Panahi’s Palme d’Or revives hope for freedom fighters around the world,” Barrot wrote on X.
A national and global moment
The win drew emotional reactions from across Iranian political and artistic figures at home and abroad.
Nobel Peace Laureate Narges Mohammadi, writing from inside Iran, described Panahi as a “brave and distinguished director” whose recognition was the result of years of relentless effort to deepen human and civil values through art.
Prince Reza Pahlavi, the exiled heir to Iran’s former monarchy, congratulated Panahi and called the award a “great honor for Iran.” He expressed hope that Iranian filmmakers could one day work “without censorship or restriction” in their homeland.
Iranian activist Hamed Esmaeilion called Panahi a “true hero,” praising his resilience in the face of censorship and repression. “His courage inspires all who fight for justice and freedom,” he said.
Political prisoner Mehdi Mahmoudian, speaking from Tehran’s Evin Prison, said the award was “not just a cinematic honor, but a victory of truth over censorship.”
Iranian-British actress Nazanin Boniadi also praised Panahi’s speech, calling him a “unifying voice” at a time when Iranians are searching for solidarity and vision.
The wave of celebration was echoed by 135 civil, political, and cultural activists, who issued a joint statement lauding Panahi as a symbol of artistic integrity and human rights advocacy.
The statement said that Panahi had joined a rare class of filmmakers alongside legends like Michelangelo Antonioni and Robert Altman—to win all three major European film prizes: the Golden Bear (Berlin), Golden Lion (Venice), and now the Palme d’Or (Cannes).
Film made in defiance
It Was Just an Accident, a political thriller, was shot clandestinely in Iran without government authorization and in open defiance of mandatory hijab laws.
The film’s production and Panahi’s public defiance of censorship laws have drawn admiration from international film communities and rights groups.
The Cannes jury also awarded Panahi the Festival’s Citizenship Prize, recognizing his broader contributions to freedom of expression.
An increasing number of Iranian filmmakers are defying the country's strict ideological censorship by making movies without seeking the Culture Ministry's permission for screening abroad.
Last year, prominent Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi said he will not produce any films in Iran until the ban on showing women without headscarves is lifted, as people demand.
Official backlash in Tehran
Inside Iran, however, the award was met with either silence or anger from state-linked outlets.
The conservative daily Farhikhtegan, affiliated with Islamic Azad University, dismissed the honor with the headline: “Palme d’Or Turns to Rust”.
The editorial accused European film festivals of orientalist bias and suggested that Panahi’s acclaim was driven by political motives rather than artistic merit.
The Student News Agency (SNN) went further, branding Panahi a “middleman” and “Iran-seller.” It called the ceremony a “political show” orchestrated by “PR marketers.”
Despite the criticism, Panahi’s victory has reignited conversations around freedom of expression, artistic resistance, and national unity among Iranians worldwide.
As he left the stage in Cannes, Panahi expressed a simple hope: “I dream of an Iran where artists are not silenced, where truth has no borders, and where no one lives in fear for telling a story.”