Shabtabnews In this dark night, I have lost my way – Arise from a corner, oh you the star of guidance.
Al-Arabia – From September 23 we have been witnessing a new round of strikes launched by truck drivers throughout Iran and the movement quickly gaining a nationwide spirit. This is the fourth episode of such protests by truck drivers and owners in the past four months alone.
Understanding the potentially crippling impact of these strikes, able to literally bring the Iranian regime’s economy to a standstill and force it to its knees, a senior Iranian regime official on Saturday resorted to accusing the drivers of committing crimes and even voicing threats of execution for those continuing these protest strike.
This alarming development in itself resembles the Iranian regime’s very fragile rule and the days of Tehran’s rulers coming to an end.
Slow start
The first round of this protest movement was witnessed on May 22nd. Of course, Iranian regime officials resorted to their known tactics of deception and hollow promises, allowing authorities to bring this strike to an end on June 8th.
As the World Cub began during this period, news report shifted away from these protests. However, the truckers’ strike registered their demands and paved the path for the second round of such protests beginning in late July.
It is interesting how this second round of protests and strikes by Iran’s truck drivers made its way into joining the second major episode of the Iranian people’s nationwide uprising. The cities of Shapur in Isfahan Province, Karaj, Shiraz and Rasht were hosts to the most significant protests.
August 11th marked the day when this second round of the truckers’ nationwide strike in Iran began fading. All the while, the Iranian people’s protest movement made two specific advances with other branches of society joining the strike, including railway workers, and major rallies regaining force in the cities of Tehran, Isfahan, Shiraz, Karaj, Arak, Homayunshahr, Ahvaz, Qahederijan, Mashhad, Najaf and Qarchak.
All these developments acted as yet another reminder and wake-up call for Iranian regime authorities regarding the potential of such protests and how the Iranian people’s uprising continues to pose a major threat for the entire regime.
The Iranian truckers’ third round of protests showed how this movement has the ability or organize, plan and pursue their demands. (File photo: Reuters)
Advances
In the second round of their nationwide strike, Iranian truck drivers were able to – without issuing a public call to coordinate their measures – boost the Iranian nation’s uprising a major step forward.
Protests across many cities continued, reminding the general public and the world of how the Iranian regime cannot provide for the population’s basic needs. Employees of the renowned Haft Tappeh Sugar Cane Company in Khuzestan Province were able to force their employers to appoint their desired representatives to the company council.
The Iranian truckers’ third round of protests showed how this movement has the ability or organize, plan and pursue their demands in a very coordinated manner. This approach impacting the Iranian people’s broader protests, injecting an organized spirit and resulting in new concerns for the ruling clerical regime.
Launching on August 25th, the trucker’s third round of this nationwide strike saw the drivers expanding their organized protests from loading terminals to holding rallies outside of provincial town halls.
While Iranian authorities were able to yet again resort to deceptive measures to bring an end to the truckers’ new protests, September 23rd marked the latest re-launch of this initiative. Amazingly, this movement has spread to over 250 cities across the country in the span of just one week.
Concerning now for the regime is the undeniable political crisis engulfing the Iranian regime alongside the general public’s living conditions sinking to drastic and intolerable lows.
Conclusion
The Iranian people are proving time and again that the Dec/Jan uprising is very much alive and active. Truck drivers across Iran, continuing their nationwide strike, are playing a major role – at times described as an engine – keeping this movement up and running, and igniting further hope in the society.
Without a doubt this protest movement has proven its potential of sparking massive nationwide protests and launching an uprising against the ruling clerics.
The past four months are proving that the circumstances inside Iran have the potential of transforming even the simplest civil protests into major political rallies shaking the very pillars of this regime.
And considering the increasing nature of sanctions against Iran’s clerical rulers and their entire apparatus, this regime will never again have the capacity to overcome this growing wave of social unrest and dissent.
