The apparently spontaneous strikes in several cities were the first sign of public discontent since President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government raised fuel prices Sunday as part of an elaborate plan to slash state subsidies in the coming weeks.
Under the new plan, truck drivers will have to pay more than 20 times as much for diesel fuel, which has been heavily subsidized in Iran and is still extremely cheap by U.S. standards. Truckers can fill up their tanks once during the next month for the old price of $0.06 a gallon. But after that, they will have to pay $1.32 a gallon.
The price of non-diesel fuel is also going up, but less drastically, with a maximum price rise of 60 percent, to about $2.65 a gallon.
Although the government has stockpiled products such as rice, cooking oil and detergents to limit price increases, the strikes could paralyze Iran's distribution system, which would spark a jump in demand - and prices.
"The prices of many items will go up because of this," Arjmandi said.
The sale of diesel fuel has plummeted since the new prices went into effect Sunday. The head of Iran's gas station syndicate, Bijan Haj Mohammad Reza, told the Ayandeh News Web site that almost 73 percent less diesel was being sold.
The government has said that all prices for basic goods will be controlled and that anyone raising prices beyond government parameters will be arrested. Bread prices were officially tripled Tuesday, from 10 cents to 30 cents a loaf, the semiofficial Fars News Agency reported.
Everyone is born equally capable but lacks equal opportunity. Pierre Omidyar
