On Saturday, May 24, 2025, the nationwide strike by truck drivers and freight vehicle operators entered its third day. The strike began on Monday, May 19, in Bandar Abbas and, starting Thursday, May 22, spread to various parts of the country. It has now encompassed at least 72 cities across the provinces of Tehran, Isfahan, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Khorasan Razavi, Khuzestan, Fars, Kerman, Kermanshah, Lorestan, Hormozgan, Hamedan, Yazd, Qazvin, Gilan, Kermanshah, Ardabil, Semnan, Ilam, Markazi, Kurdistan, West Azerbaijan, East Azerbaijan, and Bushehr.
The striking truckers have voiced their protest against the exorbitant rise in insurance costs, the reduction of diesel fuel quotas, low freight rates, widespread corruption, and the lack of job security by completely halting cargo loading at terminals and along transit routes.
The regime’s attempts to break the truck drivers’ strike have been unsuccessful. This strike has not only been supported and welcomed by the truck drivers but also gained encouragement from the general public. The regime’s repressive forces attempted to intimidate and entice the drivers by sending various SMS messages. For example, they promised 500 liters of free fuel to anyone who did not participate in the strike. However, the honorable and hardworking drivers paid no heed. In some areas, protesting drivers have blocked roads to prevent regime agents from breaking the strike.
The truck drivers declared: “We are demanding our rights. Our unity is the only force that turns the wheels in our favor. Today, from the heart of Lorestan to the soil of Khuzestan, from the southern ports to the roads of the north, the trucks are silent, but the voices of the drivers resonate louder than ever.”
Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, in a message on Thursday, saluted the striking truck drivers, stating: “They are hardworking individuals who toil day and night under the harshest conditions, yet courageously declare they will no longer submit to injustice. Through unity and protest, they will not allow the blood of their colleagues spilled in the Bandar Abbas tragedy to be in vain.” Mrs. Rajavi added: “As long as the mullahs’ regime remains in power, poverty, discrimination, corruption, inflation, and unemployment will intensify each day. The only solution is an uprising and resistance to establish democracy and the people’s sovereignty.”
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI)
24 May 2025