TEHRAN, Iran: Across Iran’s capital, rush-hour traffic always grinds to a halt, a sea of boxy Renault four-doors and Peugeot coupes all idling their way through the streets of Tehran.
Soon, however, Iran’s faltering nuclear deal with world powers may be what causes the country’s domestic automotive market to stall out.
As Iran’s currency, the rial, suffers precipitous falls against the US dollar — down some 140 percent since President Donald Trump withdrew America from the accord — cars are growing more and more expensive even as tens of thousands clamor to order domestic models online. Meanwhile, Western manufacturers are pulling out of the country and foreign-produced parts are becoming harder to find as Chinese cars fill the void.
“It is clear and obvious that the US is purposefully putting pressure on the people of Iran to instigate discontent” over the auto market, said Mohammad Reza Najfimaneh, the head of the Iranian Specialized Manufacturers of Auto Parts Association.
Iran, one of the Mideast’s biggest countries and home to 80 million people, has a huge demand for automobiles. In 2017 alone, Iran produced more than 1.5 million cars, up some 14 percent from the year before, according to a report by Iran’s Ministry of Industries, Mines and Trade earlier this year.
Some 90 percent of market share is controlled by two local companies: Iran Khodro, which assembles Peugeot-branded vehicles from kits, and SAIPA, which has made Citroens and Kias. Both manufacturers also build Renaults.
Iran’s auto industry suffered under US and Western sanctions, which targeted Iran over fears about its nuclear program. The West worries Iran could use its technology to build atomic bombs. Iran long has said its program is for peaceful purposes.
The 2015 nuclear deal, which saw Iran limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of some sanctions, provided a needed boost to the industry.
French car-maker PSA Peugeot Citroen reached a deal in 2016 to open a plant producing 200,000 vehicles annually in Iran. Fellow French automobile manufacturer Groupe Renault signed a $778-million deal to build 150,000 cars a year at a factory outside of Tehran. Meanwhile, Volkswagen announced plans to import vehicles into Iran.
Now, however, those firms have pulled back on those plans.
Concern over Iran’s domestic auto industry has been high. That was shown in a visit to Iran-Khodro last week by Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.
“The enemy in the economic war is after damaging public contentment and the auto industry is one of the front lines in the war,” Shamkhani said during his visit.
More than 100,000 people are employed by Iran-Khodro and SAIPA, while another 700,000 Iranians work in industries related to car manufacturing.
There are fears by some business analysts in Iran that any downturn in the auto industry would further worsen unemployment in the country.
Iran’s official unemployment rate is 12.3 percent, meaning some 3 million people are out of work, but experts believe it is much higher, especially among university graduates. Those unemployed often try to scrape enough money together to work as taxi drivers in the city, meaning they could be doubly hit.
Meanwhile, the drop in the Iranian rial has made buying a car difficult. The rial traded at 62,000 to the dollar before Trump’s pullout from the nuclear deal in May. It has gone as high as 150,000 to $1 since.
“I saved some money to buy an Iranian car, but prices jumped and factories do not provide cars on time,” said Mahin Tabrizi, a 45-year-old teacher. “I don’t know what I can do.”
Those prices also have hurt auto parts sales.
“Prices of car parts are crazy, all because of the sanctions,” said Mahmoud Rahimi, a taxi driver. “I bought brake pads for my car for double the price in less than a year.”
Even those who pay for an Iranian car can face delays in having them delivered. Iranian car production reportedly dropped 29 percent in June compared to the same month last year. Analysts blamed that on lack of parts due to currency fluctuation.
Meanwhile, importing a foreign car grows more expensive as the rial drops in value. Iran places import taxes of more than 100 percent on foreign cars. A ban on importing foreign cars also has been in force since April, halting new orders.
“Nearly two years ago, I paid for an imported car, yet they have not delivered it due to upheavals in the rial rate and sanctions,” said Reza Piltan, a retired engineer waiting for an SUV by South Korean manufacturer SSangYong.
In the absence of Western car makers, however, China is already starting to show up in the country. A new dealership for Chinese automaker Chery recently opened in Tehran. Iranian lawmaker Vali Maleki, a member of the parliamentary committee on industry, last month suggested that Chinese companies can take over the share of other foreign companies that have left the Iranian market.
“The Chinese cars are selling very well in Iran,” car dealer Ali Razavi said. “Their dealerships offer a wide range of methods of leasing and financing that enable many customers to buy a new car for just about $2,000 to $4,000.” Those cars are partly assembled in Iran.
Demand is still strong for Iranian-made cars as well, however.
Last week, in less than an hour, 50,000 customers rushed the website of SAIPA to pay nearly $2,000 each to buy cars that the company plans to make in the future. The move is largely an effort by buyers to save on their purchases as the rial continues to fall. Another factory, Iran-Khodro, has a similar plan for selling future cars next week.
Still, anger over quality lurks.
“In other countries people pay small advance fees to buy a standard car based on installments,” said Fatemeh Azari, whose son last week managed to buy a car on SAIPA’s website. “Here, we pay all the money in advance to receive a clunker months later.”
Iran’s domestic car market stalls as nuclear deal falters
Iran’s domestic car market stalls as nuclear deal falters
- Iran’s auto industry suffered under US and Western sanctions, which targeted Iran over fears about its nuclear program
- There are fears by some business analysts in Iran that any downturn in the auto industry would further worsen unemployment in the country
Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq to hand over weapons in first step toward disarmament
- “A group of guerrilla fighters will come down from the mountains and will bid farewell to their arms in an effort to declare their good will for peace and democratic politics,” PKK said
- A PKK spokesperson said the fighters will destroy their weapons “under the supervision of civil society institutions”
IRBIL, Iraq: A Kurdish militant group that has waged a long-running insurgency in Türkiye announced Thursday its fighters in northern Iraq will begin handing over their weapons, marking the first concrete step toward disarmament as part of a peace process.
The Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, announced in May it would disband and renounce armed conflict, ending four decades of hostilities. The move came after PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, who has been imprisoned on an island near Istanbul since 1999, urged his group in February to convene a congress and formally disband and disarm.
Ocalan, 76, continues to wield significant influence in the Kurdish movement despite his 25-year imprisonment. His call to end the fighting marked a pivotal step toward ending the decades-long conflict that has claimed tens of thousands of lives since the 1980s.
In the latest development, “a group of guerrilla fighters will come down from the mountains and will bid farewell to their arms in an effort to declare their good will for peace and democratic politics,” the PKK said in a statement Thursday.
The ceremony, which is expected to take place between July 10 and July 12 in the city of Sulaymaniyah in northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region, will be the first concrete move toward disarmament.
Zagros Hiwa, a PKK spokesperson, said the fighters will destroy their weapons “under the supervision of civil society institutions and interested parties.” The number of fighters who will take part has not yet been determined but might be between 20 and 30, he said.
For the PKK to take further steps toward disarmament, he said “the regime of isolation” imposed on Öcalan in prison “has to be abolished” and “constitutional, legal and political” must be taken to “ensure that the guerrilla who have abandoned the strategy of armed struggle could be reintegrated into democratic politics in Turkiye.”
An Iraqi Kurdish official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly, said the PKK members are expected to hand over their light weapons to the regional government.
The regional government is dominated by two parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, with the KDP overseeing the regional capital, Irbil, and the city of Dohuk. The PUK governs Sulaymaniyah.
The KDP has good relations with Türkiye and has been at odds with the PKK, while the PUK is closer to the PKK.
In Türkiye on Monday, Omer Celik, a spokesperson for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party, or AKP, said the PKK could begin handing over arms “within days,” but did not provide details. Celik added that Erdogan would meet with members of the pro-Kurdish party next week to discuss the peace effort.
There was no immediate statement from Türkiye’s government on Thursday’s announcement.
The PKK has long maintained bases in the mountains of northern Iraq. Turkish forces have launched offensives and airstrikes against the PKK in Iraq and have set up bases in the area. Scores of villages have emptied as a result.
The Iraqi government in Baghdad last year announced an official ban on the separatist group, which has long been prohibited in Türkiye.
Killings rise when Gaza Health Foundation distributes aid: Analysis
- Sky News finds correlation between aid drops, increased fatalities
- UN labels GHF sites ‘death traps,’ amid claims Israeli soldiers deliberately fire at civilians
LONDON: An investigation has found an increase in deaths in Gaza correlated with aid distribution overseen by the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Health Foundation.
The GHF took over humanitarian supply systems in the Palestinian enclave in May, replacing around 400 distribution sites run by other charities and NGOs with four designated facilities, called Secure Distribution Sites.
They were meant to ensure that aid did not fall into the hands of Hamas or other armed groups, which Israel alleges frequently happened under the previous UN-backed system.
However, Gaza’s health authorities say more than 600 Palestinians have been killed trying to access aid at the sites, which the UN has labeled “death traps.” Israeli soldiers have been accused of opening fire directly at civilians.
Analysis conducted by Sky News suggests that killings rise when aid is distributed by the GHF.
Sky’s Data & Forensics Unit found that an average of 48 deaths and 189 injuries are reported when the GHF operates two or fewer aid distributions. That number rises almost threefold when it runs five to six aid drops.
Sky reported that between June 5 and July 1, 77 aid distributions were conducted by the GHF. Of those, 23 — or 30 percent of the total — resulted in reports of violence, and at SDS4 half of all drops saw bloodshed.
A recent report by Israeli newspaper Haaretz interviewed Israeli soldiers who said they were ordered to fire at crowds of unarmed Palestinians at the GHF sites.
The Israeli military denies the allegations, but said it is investigating incidents where civilians have been harmed.
The UN, in its most recent update on June 24, put the number of casualties at GHF sites at 410, citing data available from nearby hospitals.
The GHF has been severely criticized for the manner in which aid is distributed, with footage obtained by Sky on June 15 showing Palestinians at SDS1 crowding and rummaging among hundreds of scattered aid packages discarded on the floor.
Sky’s analysis found that aid is often delivered in significantly smaller quantities than required, with supplies running out on average after just nine minutes. At 23 percent of aid drops, supplies were exhausted before the official opening time.
Sky reported that 86 percent of distributions were announced to people in the area less than 30 minutes in advance, and that maps and instructions distributed to locals to navigate and access the sites were inaccurate or dangerous, including telling civilians trying to reach SDS2, 3 and 4 to congregate inside areas labeled live combat zones by Israel.
In addition, the congregation areas are typically some distance from the sites, causing surges when they open as people attempt to cover the open ground to access the aid.
The shortest distance from a waiting point to an SDS is 689 meters, at SDS4, approximately 10 minutes away on foot — more than the average time before supplies run out.
Sam Rose, director of operations in Gaza for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, called the GHF’s system a “free-for-all.”
He told Sky: “What they’re doing is, they’re loading up the boxes on the ground and then people just rush in.”
Rose added: “They (the GHF) don’t know what they’re doing. They don’t have anyone working on these operations who has any experience of operating, of administering food distributions because anyone who did have that experience wouldn’t want to be part of it because this isn’t how you treat people.”
A group of charities and humanitarian groups on Tuesday condemned the GHF’s operations, saying they violate international principles.
More than 200 groups have called for the reinstatement of the previous aid distribution system overseen by the UN.
UN expert urges states to cut Israel trade ties over ‘apocalyptic’ Gaza situation
- Israel has rejected accusations of genocide in Gaza
GENEVA: A UN expert on Thursday called on states to impose an arms embargo and cut off trade and financial ties with Israel, which she alleged is waging a “genocidal campaign” in Gaza.
In a speech to the UN Human Rights Council, UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories Francesca Albanese said: “The situation in the occupied Palestinian territory is apocalyptic.”
“Israel is responsible for one of the cruellest genocides in modern history,” she added, in a speech that was met with a burst of applause from the Geneva council.
Israel’s diplomatic mission in Geneva did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Albanese’s speech.
Israel has rejected accusations of genocide in Gaza, citing its right to self-defense following the deadly October 7, 2023, Hamas attack. Its delegate was not present in the room in line with a new policy to disengage with the council which Israel says has an antisemitic bias.
Albanese, one of dozens of independent UN-mandated experts to document abuses around the world, was presenting her latest report which named over 60 companies she said were involved in supporting Israeli settlements and military actions in Gaza.
“What I expose is not a list, it is a system, and that is to be addressed,” she told the council.
“We must reverse the tide,” she added, calling for states to impose a full arms embargo, suspend all trade agreements and ensure companies face legal consequences for their involvement in violations of international law.
Israel’s diplomatic mission in Geneva earlier this week said Albanese’s latest report was “legally groundless, defamatory and a flagrant abuse of her office.”
Dozens killed in Gaza, 38 while waiting for aid, as Hamas seeks truce guarantees
- Gaza’s Health Ministry said the number of Palestinians killed in Gaza has passed 57,000
- More than 90% of Gaza’s 2.3 million population has been displaced, often multiple times
GAZA: Hamas is seeking guarantees that a new US ceasefire proposal for Gaza would lead to the war’s end, a source close to the militant group said on Thursday, as medics said Israeli strikes across the territory had killed scores more people.
Israeli officials said prospects for reaching a ceasefire deal and hostage deal appeared high, nearly 21 months since the war between Israel and Hamas began.
On the ground, intensified Israeli strikes across Gaza continued unabated, killing at least 59 people on Thursday, according to health authorities in the territory.
Efforts for a Gaza truce have gathered steam after the US secured a ceasefire to end a 12-day aerial conflict between Israel and Iran.
On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump said that Israel had accepted the conditions needed to finalize a 60-day ceasefire with Hamas, during which the parties will work to end the war.
Hamas is seeking clear guarantees that the ceasefire will eventually lead to the war’s end, the source close to the group said. Two Israeli officials said that those details were still being worked out.
Ending the war has been the main sticking point in repeated rounds of failed negotiations.
A separate source familiar with the matter said that Israel was expecting Hamas’ response by Friday and that if it was positive, an Israeli delegation would join indirect talks to cement the deal. It was unclear whether those would be held in Egypt or Qatar, the two countries that have been mediating talks.
The proposal includes the staggered release of 10 living Israeli hostages and the return of the bodies of 18 more in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, sources say. Of the 50 remaining hostages in Gaza, 20 are believed to still be alive.
A senior Israeli official close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said preparations were in place to approve a ceasefire deal even as the premier heads to Washington to meet Trump on Monday.
‘Readiness to advance’
Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen, who sits on Netanyahu’s security cabinet, told news website Ynet that there was “definitely readiness to advance a deal.”
In Gaza, however, there was little sign of relief. At least 17 people were killed in an Israeli strike that hit a school in Gaza City where displaced families were sheltering, according to medics.
“Suddenly, we found the tent collapsing over us and a fire burning. We don’t know what happened,” one witness, Wafaa Al-Arqan, told Reuters. “What can we do? Is it fair that all these children burned?”
According to medics at Nasser hospital farther south, at least 20 people were killed by Israeli fire en route to an aid distribution site.
The Israeli military said it was looking into the reports and that its forces were taking precautions to mitigate harm to civilians as it battled Palestinian militants throughout Gaza.
The war began when Hamas fighters stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel’s subsequent military assault has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry, while displacing most of the population of more than 2 million, triggering widespread hunger and leaving much of the territory in ruins.
Israel says it won’t end the war while Hamas is still armed and ruling Gaza. Hamas, severely weakened, says it won’t lay down its weapons but is willing to release all the hostages still in Gaza if Israel ends the war.
Scorching summer heat deepens Gaza’s daily struggles
- Temperatures are exceeding 30 degrees Celsius with displaced children sweltering inside cramped nylon tents
KHAN YOUNIS: For Rida Abu Hadayed, summer adds a new layer of misery to a daily struggle to survive in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip.
With temperatures exceeding 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit), daybreak begins with the cries of Hadayed’s seven children sweltering inside the displaced family’s cramped nylon tent. Outside, the humidity is unbearable.
The only way the 32-year-old mother can offer her children relief is by fanning them with a tray or bits of paper — whatever she can find. If she has water, she pours it over them, but that is an increasingly scarce resource.
“There is no electricity. There is nothing,” she said, her face beaded with sweat. “They cannot sleep. They keep crying all day until the sun sets.”
The heat in Gaza has intensified hardships for its 2 million residents. Reduced water availability, crippled sanitation networks, and shrinking living spaces threaten to cause illnesses to cascade through communities, aid groups have long warned.
The scorching summer coincides with a lack of clean water for the majority of Gaza’s population, most of whom are displaced in tented communities. Many Palestinians in the enclave must walk long distances to fetch water and ration each drop, limiting their ability to wash and keep cool.
“We are only at the beginning of summer,” Hadayed’s husband, Yousef, said. “And our situation is dire.”
Israel had blocked food, fuel, medicine and all other supplies from entering Gaza for nearly three months. It began allowing limited aid in May, but fuel needed to pump water from wells or operate desalination plants is still not getting into the territory.
With fuel supplies short, only 40 percent of drinking water production facilities are functioning in the Gaza Strip, according to a recent report by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. All face imminent collapse. Up to 93 percent of households face water shortages, the June report said.
The Hadayeds were displaced after evacuation orders forced them to leave eastern Khan Younis.
“Our lives in the tent are miserable. We spend our days pouring water over their heads and their skin,” Yousef Hadayed said. “Water itself is scarce. It is very difficult to get that water.”
UNICEF’s spokesperson recently said that if fuel supplies are not allowed to enter the enclave, children will die of thirst.
“Me and my children spend our days sweating,” said Reham Abu Hadayed, a 30-year-old relative of Rida Abu Hadayed who was also displaced from eastern Khan Younis. She worries about the health of her four children.
“I don’t have enough money to buy them medicine,” she said.
For Mohammed Al-Awini, 23, the heat is not the worst part. It’s the flies and mosquitoes that bombard his tent, especially at night.
Without adequate sewage networks, garbage piles up on streets, attracting insects and illness. The stench of decomposing trash wafts in the air.
“We are awake all night, dying from mosquito bites,” he said. “We are the most tired people in the world.”
