Iranian Truckers Plan Nationwide Strike Amid Protests
Iranian truckers have announced plans to hold a nationwide strike as anti-government protests continue and Tehran’s bus drivers have been on strike all week.
Iranian truckers have announced plans to hold a nationwide strike as anti-government protests continue and Tehran’s bus drivers have been on strike all week.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the Union of Truckers and Drivers' Organization said that holding strikes and protests for the realization of their demands are their inalienable right. The date of the strike is to be announced soon.
Their demands include better transport fares based on the weight of the cargo per kilometer, higher pays and job security, lower prices for spare parts, lower fuel prices through subsidies, removing customs tariffs and road tolls, as well as welfare and health facilities at terminals.
The statement referred to the previous nationwide strike by the truck drivers that took place in over 160 cities four years ago, saying that their demands have not been met since then and their lives have become harder.
“For the past four years, we have been struggling with a lot of pain and suffering every day and every moment... Today, the country's road transport fleet is on the verge of destruction”, they said.
"The experience of that great strike tells us that we can unite again and shout our demands”, the statement read.
The 2018 strike finished following unfulfilled promises by the government, threats of serious repercussions and hundreds of arrests.
Authorities scrapped a food import subsidy in early May, which triggered a sudden jump in prices and led to protests that have taken on an anti-regime tone.
Speaking with Sharq newspaper in Tehran, Reza Shahrestani, a member of Iran’s steel producers’ associationsaid that Iran’s steel exports have stopped in the past two months as China, Afghanistan, Thailand and South Korea, Iran’s biggest customers have shifted their orders to Russia. He emphasized that this development has deprived Iran of more than $5 billion in steel exports so far.
Shahrestani warned the same scenario is being repeated in case of other metals and could also endanger petrochemical exports, which provide larger export revenues.
Iranian media and analysts have voiced concern in recent weeks that following international sanctions against Moscow, Russian oil has become cheaper and specially China will be enticed to buy crude from Russia instead of Iran.
Despite United States sanctions on oil exports, Tehran has been able to boost crude shipments since the Biden Administration began nuclear talks with Tehran and less enforcement of Trump-era restrictions against third parties doing business with Iran.
Iranian officials have been taking credit for the increase in crude deliveries and revenues, although it is not clear how much foreign currency has found its way into Tehran’s coffers. Some say China is paying Iran with deliveries of merchandise and not cash, which would not be easy with US banking sanctions in place against Iran.
In the four years since former president Donald Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear agreement and imposed oil export sanctions, Iran has tried to compensate for loss of oil revenue by boosting non-crude exports of petrochemicals and steel. In the last 12 months, Iran’s non-oil exports have reached close to $50 billion.
Shahrestani told Sharq that Russia is offering discounts of 15-20 percent on its steel and already the impact on Iran’s traditional markets is clear. Russia is reportedly also offering a $20 per barrel discount on its crude, which on world markets has climbed above $110 a barrel.
Iran’s steel industry also faces internal hurdles according to Reza Mohtashamipur, an official in the ministry of industry and mines, who told state television last month that a 17-22 percent tax on steel exports hurts the industry. He argued that the tax makes Iranian steel less competitive on international markets. While Iran had offered 15 percent cheaper steel to foreign buyers, Russia is now offering more discounts.
Another impediment for steel producers, according to Shahrestani is lack of electricity in peak seasons. With the approach of hot summer months, electricity is usually rationed, and steel mills receive less energy, which impedes production.
Reduction in export revenues come at a sensitive time for Iran as it has stopped food import subsidies to save foreign currency, triggering a sudden jump in prices. Many analysts and former politicians have been warning of mass protests as millions of people face hunger. Already sporadic anti-government protests have been taking place in smaller cities and towns, but large cities have not erupted.
