Angry drivers protest subsidy cut in Tehran

NCRI, 22 December 2010 – Angry customers at gas stations in Tehran, who have been irritated with standing in long lines and higher prices after the regime lifted subsidies this week, clashed with suppressive forces on Monday and protested by chanting “death to dictator.”
At a gas station at Tehran’s Gomrok intersection, a group of drivers waiting to fill up their tanks clashed with the regime’s State Security Forces (SSF) who had been stationed in the  area to control the crowd. Protestors chanted, “SSF get lost,” “SSF, shame, shame,” and “death to dictator.”
The demonstrators succeeded in pushing back the SSF agents who were forced to flee the scene of clashes.
Separately, traffic crane operators have gone on strike in protest to rising fuel costs.
The number of taxis has also reportedly decreased dramatically due to a reduction of fuel supplies, causing fresh transportation challenges in the Iranian capital.
Eyewitness accounts indicated that the number of people waiting for taxi cabs at Enqelab Square, Emam Hossein Square, Rah Ahan and Mossadeq intersection has jumped up to 10 times compared to the days before the subsidy lift.