Iran Cannes winner Panahi backs trucker strikes
Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi backed week-long nationwide strikes by truckers Wednesday as a "loud call" to the authorities, after arriving home from his triumph at the Cannes film festival. Truck drivers across Iran were striking for a seventh day on Wednesday in a stoppage rare in its length and magnitude, seeking better conditions in a sector crucial for the economy in the Islamic republic.
After starting last week in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, the strike action has spread across the country, according to reports by monitoring groups on social media and Persian-language media based outside Iran. The truck drivers are protesting a rise in insurance premiums, poor road security, high fuel prices and low freight rates, according to union statements cited by these media.
"They are fed up. They have no choice but to go strike," Panahi wrote on Instagram, having returned to Iran on Monday after winning the Palme d'or for his latest film "It Was Just an Accident". "When thieves and illiterate people are put in charge, the result is this terrible situation: corruption and mismanagement in everything, from the economy and culture to the environment and politics," added Panahi.
The acclaimed director was long banned from filmmaking and unable to leave Iran, having also spent time in prison due to his political stances. "This strike is a loud call to the government saying: 'Enough! Stop all this oppression and plunder'," he said.
Persian-language television channels based outside Iran, including Iran International and Manoto, which are critical of the government, said the strike was continuing Wednesday, broadcasting images of deserted roads sent from inside Iran as well as trucks parked up in cities including the central city of Isfahan. It was not immediately possible to independently verify the images.
Tankers carrying fuel from the major refinery in Abadan in western Iran have now joined the strike, Manoto said.
Iran International also said some participants had been arrested in the western city of Kermanshah, following arrests earlier this week in the southern city of Shiraz. The same outlets also indicated that there have been strikes in other sectors in Iran, notably by bakers who are angered by early morning power cuts when they are baking bread. — AFP
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