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.
