Truckers' strike persists as Tehran's steps up arrests

Some of the accounts describe isolation in sweltering apartments, lack of essential services and increasing anger over government inaction.

In Ahvaz, where daytime temperatures top 45°C, one man said midday cuts had left families without air conditioning.

A resident of Pardis near Tehran reported being stranded in a high-rise: “On the 14th floor, we’re cut off from the world for two hours a day—no power, no water, no communication.”

In Shahreza in Isfahan province, a woman filmed a gas station rendered defunct by power cuts.

Iran faces a shortfall of nearly 20,000 megawatts, a crisis fueled by extreme heat, dwindling hydropower, and years of underinvestment.

Messages show burned-out appliances, food spoilage, and even fire damage. “This fire started because of power flickers,” said one man, gesturing to a scorched storefront. “This is one of the blessings of the Islamic Republic.”

Some residents complained about bathing children with bottled water and elderly citizens stuck in buildings without functioning elevators or water pumps.

“No bread, no water, no electricity, no internet, no clean air,” one voice said. “This already is hell.”

The outages have hit mobile networks and small businesses alike, with dead batteries at relay stations shutting down service and shopkeepers counting losses. “The fuse blew. Everything spoiled. I paid a heavy price,” said a Gelato shop owner.

Despite vast oil and gas reserves, Iran’s government has failed to upgrade infrastructure or build renewables.

Authorities continue to cite illegal cryptocurrency mining as a strain. Energy Minister Abbas Aliabadi said such operations now consume over 1,000 megawatts—about 5% of the shortfall.

But the broader collapse in services continues. In high-rise buildings, electricity cuts disable water pumps, leaving residents without running water. “We haven’t showered in two days,” said a woman in one video. “We use bottled water for the toilet. At least open the public baths.”

“Some have tried to prove that corruption in the Islamic Republic is systemic. That is a lie,” Khamenei said. “Corruption is like a seven-headed dragon that won’t vanish easily, but the system itself is healthy.”

Addressing provincial governors in Tehran, he called on people in power to avoid conflicts of interest and personal business ventures, saying corrupt officials face double divine punishment.

His remarks follow a withering speech by US President Donald Trump in Riyadh this month in which he accused Iran’s leadership of theft and mismanagement.

"Iran's leaders have focused on stealing their people's wealth to fund terror and bloodshed abroad. Most tragic of all, they have dragged down an entire region with them," Trump said.

The latest Corruption Perceptions Index from watchdog Transparency International ranks Iran 151 out of 180 countries in terms of public sector corruption.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian responded to Trump last week in a speech to parliament, accusing the US of hypocrisy and exploitation.

“The master thieves of the planet who rob every country now accuse others,” he said. “They came here to plunder.”

The Supreme Leader's remarks come as nearly daily protests linger across Iran.

Union members from the trucking, baking and other sectors are coordinating in ongoing nationwide strikes while pensioners have held scattered demonstrations over unpaid benefits in recent days.

Almost a third of Iranians struggle to afford basic necessities and millions live below the poverty line amid sharply rising inflation and stagnant wages.

Sources told Iran International that intelligence and security agencies have begun directly contacting and summoning truck drivers in Sirjan, Kerman province, with several reportedly detained in an attempt to break the strike.

On Tuesday, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Kerman province said in a statement that it had dismantled what it called an “organized anti-security network” operating across several provinces.

The statement did not specify the network’s alleged activities or any link to the truckers' strike.

Iran's Truckers and Heavy Vehicle Drivers Union released a statement marking the sixth day of the strike, confirming that 11 drivers and truck owners had been detained in Kermanshah, western Iran.

The union called for their immediate and unconditional release, saying, “Repression, arrest, and threats are not a response to legitimate demands — they are a sign of desperation in the face of our growing call for justice.”

In response to the arrests, hundreds of drivers in Kermanshah staged a protest in front of the provincial governor’s office, denouncing what they described as unjust treatment and expressing solidarity with their detained colleagues.

Launched on May 22 in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, the coordinated protest has since spread widely across the country, with truckers pledging to hold out for a full week or longer if their demands remain unmet.

Drivers are demanding better working conditions, higher freight rates, and relief from high insurance costs and fuel restrictions.

Despite weeks of speculation that the ultraconservative Paydari Party would mount a serious challenge to Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, no meaningful competition materialized.

Even Iran’s tightly controlled state media struggled to hide the stagnation.

“The political atmosphere in Iran has never been as banal as it is today,” the conservative daily Farhikhtegan wrote in its editorial on Tuesday. “Public trust in both politics and politicians is at its lowest point.”

During the session, lawmakers barely addressed the parliament’s performance. Instead, they praised Ghalibaf’s military service during the Iran-Iraq War, deflecting attention from governance failures.

Farhikhtegan warned that many lawmakers appear unwilling or unable to manage even basic parliamentary affairs—raising concerns about the legislature’s capacity to provide oversight or hold the cabinet accountable.It also alleged that some figures outside parliament had attempted to influence the internal vote.

Ghalibaf, a former Revolutionary Guards commander, won comfortably after one of his two rivals, Ahmad Ghavami, withdrew just before the vote. The only remaining contender, Ahmad Rastineh, posed little threat.

Rastineh had claimed he was running to end what he called Ghalibaf’s undemocratic control of the legislature. However, his interventions appear to have focused more on silencing radical voices than asserting a distinct policy direction.

Legislative paralysis

In the past year, the parliament (or Majles) advanced only two major initiatives: one to enforce compulsory hijab and another to restrict social media.

The former was blocked by President Massoud Pezeshkian and the Supreme National Security Council, who feared backlash from Iran’s politically active women.

The latter also met resistance from the public and the executive. Under pressure from youth in particular, Pezeshkian overturned a ban on WhatsApp and is reportedly working to lift other platform restrictions.

Yet the parliament’s most glaring failure remains economic reform. Lawmakers have made little progress in combating corruption, reducing inequality, or improving living standards.

Some political commentators—including prominent reform advocate Abbas Abdi and former vice president and presidential candidate Mostafa Hashemi Taba—argue that legislative efforts alone cannot solve Iran’s economic crisis.

The Majles, they assert, has lost much of its relevance, and only systemic reform—especially the redistribution of financial resources—can address the country’s deeply rooted structural challenges.

During a high-profile visit to Washington in May, KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani announced the deals with HKN Energy and WesternZagros, targeting development of the Miran and Topkhana-Kurdamir gas fields in the western part of the region near the Syrian border. Together, the projects are valued at $110 billion over their lifetime.

The US-KRG energy deals have sent a powerful message—both to Baghdad and to Tehran. If realized, they could shift Iraq’s energy independence and diminish Iran’s regional clout.

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright praised the deals at the Al-Monitor Global Institute in Washington on May 22, calling them “very aligned with President Trump’s agenda.”

He added, “We need Iraq and others off Iranian dependence.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Prime Minister Barzani in Washington on May 23. According to the State Department, the Secretary praised the energy agreements and reaffirmed US support for a strong and resilient Kurdistan Region within a sovereign and prosperous federal Iraq.

But analysts believe without a breakthrough in Baghdad-Erbil relations and tangible infrastructure investment, the deals remain aspirational—more of a political statement than a pipeline to regional transformation.

Iran’s gas grip at risk

Iran currently supplies around 25% of Iraq’s electricity needs through natural gas exports. Should the Kurdish projects proceed, that influence could be seriously eroded.

According to Iman Nasseri, Managing Director for the Middle East at FGE, Iran has little to gain financially from its gas exports to Iraq, and growing domestic shortages are shifting Tehran’s calculus.

He told Iran International, “They’re (Iraq) receiving gas for free because they have the excuse of not being able to pay due to US sanctions....Iran would welcome any scenario that could get Iraqis off the contract that they have signed with the Iranians [...] because they are short in natural gas at the moment."

Nasseri said that while the gas fields targeted by the US-KRG deals—estimated to hold 13 trillion cubic feet collectively—are indeed substantial, the main obstacles to their development have always been political and economic, not technical.

Strategic implications for Iran

Meanwhile, Baghdad swiftly denounced the agreements. Iraq’s Oil Ministry declared them “null and void." A senior Iraqi official told Reuters the central government had not been informed in advance.

KRG’s Ministry of Natural Resources defended the move, citing existing legal frameworks and long-standing contracts validated by Iraqi courts.

Energy analyst Dalga Khatinoglu told Iran International that the gas reserves in Iraqi Kurdistan—estimated at over 211.9 trillion cubic feet —are large enough to position the region as a major exporter to Turkey and Europe.

While Iran holds five times more gas, he warned, Tehran risks losing its most critical energy customers if the Kurdish fields come online.

“Iran earns $5 billion a year from gas exports to Iraq and Turkey,” Khatinoglu said, underscoring the threat to both revenue and regional influence. If Kurdish gas starts reaching Turkey and Europe, Iran not only loses market share—it loses geopolitical leverage.

US policy or political signal?

Ambassador John Craig, a former senior US diplomat, told Iran International the announcement may signal more of a “test” than a decisive turning point.

“The KRG is testing the water—to see how the Iranians react to it and how the US reacts to it,” he said, emphasizing that Iran “no longer has the punch” it once did following Israeli strikes that “took out all their munitions factories” and weakened Tehran’s regional leverage.

Craig is a former US ambassador to Oman under President Clinton and later served as director for the Middle East at the National Security Council under President George W. Bush.

He said that while the Kurdish leadership may see an opening to act more independently, the projects are far from being realized. “This is not going to happen in the next 10 months, no. It’s long term,” he said. “Exploration, production, development—it could take three to five years.”

Nasseri also described the deals as more symbolic than real, likening them to ‘wishful thinking’ without the conditions needed for execution. He emphasized that Kurdistan currently lacks a viable off-taker, adding, "you can’t develop gas without finding a place and an off-taker that can consume that gas.”