Iran Update, May 26, 2025
Truck drivers across Iran have launched a nationwide strike over rising insurance and maintenance costs and worsening economic conditions.[1] The truck drivers are protesting the government’s plan to cut the amount of subsidized diesel allocated to truckers.[2] Strikers also cited unaffordable insurance premiums, stagnant freight rates, and deteriorating road infrastructure.[3] The government-subsidized insurance premium for truck drivers increased by approximately 45 percent earlier this year.[4] The strike began in Bandar Abbas, Hormozgan Province, which is Iran’s primary shipping hub, on May 18 and has since spread to other major Iranian cities.[5] Economic-related protests and strikes have the potential to escalate into anti-regime protests similar to how demonstrations against increasing gas prices morphed into anti-regime protests in 2017 and 2018.[6]
The ongoing strikes will likely worsen Iranian freight transport issues, especially after a recent explosion at a major port in Bandar Abbas. The Shahid Rajaee port in Bandar Abbas, which handles 85 percent of Iran’s container traffic and a significant share of oil exports, suffered a major explosion on April 26 that has disrupted container traffic and cost Iran an estimated 25 million US dollars per day.[7] The ongoing strike has reportedly strained domestic freight transport, particularly agricultural distribution during the harvest season.[8] Iranian officials rejected claims that fruit and vegetable prices increased by 50 percent and stated that only a few staples saw “temporary” increases due to recent transport issues.[9] An Iranian judiciary official reported on May 26 that Fars Province security forces arrested and prosecuted individuals who blocked the movement of freight trucks on roads.[10] Iranian Law Enforcement Command (LEC) forces separately clashed with strikers in Sanandaj, Kurdistan Province, on May 25 with pepper spray.[11]
https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/iran-update-may-26-2025
Iran Update, May 27, 2025
Iran is continuing to strengthen ties with revisionist actors such as Russia and North Korea. An Iranian delegation led by Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Akbar Ahmadian arrived in Moscow on May 27 for the three-day 13th Moscow International Security Conference.[50] Russian state media reported that the conference will focus on strengthening global security cooperation and feature a Russian defense exhibition.[51] Delegates from over 150 countries will reportedly attend the conference, including delegations from BRICS and Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states. North Korean media reported that a delegation led by North Korea’s Minister of State Security will attend the conference.[52] Iran’s engagement with BRICS and the SCO is part of a broader Iranian effort to establish a parallel international order that challenges Western “dominance.”[53] Ahmadian emphasized the importance of developing BRICS and the SCO upon his arrival in Moscow.[54] Ahmadian also stated that he will meet with officials on the sidelines of the summit and discuss progress on the January 2025 Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty with unspecified Russian officials.[55] Iran and Russia have continued to expand ties since they signed the agreement, which covers military, economic, energy, and nuclear cooperation.[56] Iran has provided significant support to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by providing Fateh-360 ballistic missiles and launchers and Shahed drones. Iran also reportedly purchased Russian Su-35 fighter jets in January 2025, which illustrates Iran and Russia’s mutual defense cooperation, though Russia has not yet delivered the Su-35s.[57] Russia has also coordinated with Iran on the latter’s nuclear program during US-Iran negotiations.[58]
The Iranian Parliament re-elected hardline Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf for a sixth term on May 27.[70] The Parliament Speaker serves a one-year term.[71] Ghalibaf is a longtime member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and maintains close personal and political relations with the highest echelons of the IRGC that date to the Iran-Iraq War.[72] Ghalibaf also served as Iran’s police chief between 2000 and 2005.[73] The Parliament also elected Ali Nikzad as First Deputy Speaker and Hamidreza Haj Babaei as Second Deputy Speaker.[74] Nikzad previously served as the Second Deputy Speaker, and Babaei served as the First Deputy Speaker in 2024.[75] Ghalibaf previously appointed Nikzad as his campaign manager in June 2024, during Ghalibaf’s most recent unsuccessful presidential campaign, indicating that Nikzad is close to Ghalibaf.[76]
The Iranian rial depreciated from 821,500 rial to one US dollar on May 26 to 827,500 rial to one US dollar on May 27.[86]
https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/iran-update-may-27-2025