Iranian taxi and truck drivers are pushing back hard after the government raised gasoline prices. With the economy already strained by war and U.S. sanctions, drivers have taken to the streets and launched strikes as fuel costs climb.
Iran's government announced on Sept. 7 that it would double gasoline prices to about $0.04 per liter for vehicles filling up beyond their subsidized fuel quotas, The Wall Street Journal reported on the 10th. The government has been cutting subsidized fuel quotas for years. The latest increase is also a response to economic hardship caused by the war and U.S. sanctions.
But for Iranians earning little more than $100 a month, the added fuel cost is a heavy burden. According to Iran's truck and drivers' union, 120 taxi drivers in the eastern province of Kerman protested the cuts to subsidized fuel quotas on the 10th.
"We Can No Longer Make a Living" — Snapp Drivers Strike One After Another
Drivers for Snapp, the delivery and ride-hailing service known as Iran's Uber, went on strike this week in cities across the country. Snapp has about 3 million drivers, making it one of Iran's largest private employers.
In Arak, an industrial hub in western Iran, dozens of Snapp drivers gathered outside the provincial governor's office on Sept. 7 to protest. They said they could no longer make a living. In Semnan, a city east of Tehran, Snapp drivers staged a convoy protest along major arterial roads the same day.
Truck drivers at Bandar port on the Strait of Hormuz, which handles most of Iran's container traffic, also warned of a possible strike. In a statement, the truck and drivers' union said the fuel price increase has left drivers and their families paying costs out of their own pockets, and that they can no longer bear the pressure.
Drivers Crowded Filling Stations Before the Increase, Adding to Fuel Shortages
Ahead of the price increase, drivers rushed to filling stations to stock up on gasoline, and some stations ran dry. Some drivers who could not get fuel were left stranded on the road.
Iranian transport operators said they are now facing fuel problems they did not encounter even at the height of fighting in the early stages of the war with the United States.
Jalal Mousavi, vice president of Iran's national truck drivers' association, told the state-run Iranian Labour News Agency (ILNA) that drivers had been busy hauling cargo even under missile attacks during the war and had not halted the flow of freight for a single hour. "But today, drivers have to stand in long lines just to get fuel," he said.
