Iran Cannes winner Panahi backs trucker strikes

Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi backed week-long nationwide strikes by truckers Wednesday as a “loud call” to the authorities, after arriving home from his triumph at the Cannes film festival.

Truck drivers across Iran were striking for a seventh day on Wednesday in a stoppage rare in its length and magnitude, seeking better conditions in a sector crucial for the economy in the Islamic republic.

After starting last week in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, the strike action has spread…