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Why is Iran home to so many road accidents?

Analysis by: PMOI/MEK

 

Iran, June 13, 2018 – Iran’s road accidents and the high number of resulting deaths and injuries in recent years have rendered intense disputes in the regime’s media and discussions among senior officials.

 

Some facts

The state-run Arman daily cited the regime’s Health Minister saying, “Iran’s road accident numbers, especially regarding heavy trucks, are 100 times that of world averages and we have twice the number of deaths and injuries.”

This newspaper goes on to cite statistics from the World Health Organization, saying Iran ranks 189th out 190 countries in regards to road accidents.

“There are 3,400 accident-prone locations in the country’s roads, of which 1,500 are in critical conditions,” according to the Iranian regime’s traffic police chief, cited by the official IRNA news agency.

Iran’s economy suffers $97 million each day due to road accidents, according to the state-run ISNA news agency citing an Iranian official. This accumulates to eight percent of Iran’s gross national product, the report adds.

A UNICEF report indicates Iran has 20 times the number of road accidents in comparison to world averages.

Each year 28,000 people lose their lives from road accidents in Iran, along with another 300,000 left injured and crippled in some way. In Iran, one person dies every 19 minutes due to road accidents.

 

Poor roads

According to officials involved in the regime’s Road and Construction Ministry, and the police, the main reason behind road accidents in Iran are the country’s very poor road conditions, being very old and not meeting necessary standards.

“The roads from Mazandarn (northern Iran) to the capital are more than 80 years old, no longer meeting today’s traffic volume and technology demands,” according the state-run ISNA news agency.

 

Non-standard vehicles

The poor quality of vehicles made inside Iran, as the company owners seek further profits, make them unsafe and fail to meet necessary standards.

“In comparison to the weak and unsafe vehicles made inside Iran, many of the imported second-hand vehicles that have been on the roads for 10 years, lead to no injuries or deaths for the passengers even in major accidents. However, domestic-made vehicles in the same accidents see all the passengers lose their lives,” according to traffic police chief Mohammad Hossein Hamidi.

“Making the vehicles safe will reduce Iran’s road accident casualties by at least 40 to 45 percent,” he added.

 

Low construction budget

Year after year the Iranian regime decreases the Road and Construction Ministry’s budget, while increasing the budget of repressive forces, including the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) and its cultural entities (read institutions involved in Tehran’s meddling abroad).

“In 2016, this ministry received only 1% of its $1.83 billion budget, meaning only $19 million,” according to Road & Construction Minister Abbas Akhundi.

This ministry’s 2018 budget saw a 25% decrease in comparison to the year before, according to the state-run Tasnim news agency.

These budget cuts come at a time when the country’s roads are old, in very poor conditions, non-standard and are in desperate need of repair and reconstruction.

As a result, the main element behind the high number of road accidents in Iran is the ruling regime that is involved in plundering the country’s national wealth. Instead of allocating these God-given riches to the country’s construction projects, this money is only used for domestic crackdown and exporting terrorism and fundamentalism abroad.

This is exactly why the Iranian people, in their protests and strikes, are demanding the regime end its initiatives in Syria, Iraq and Yemen and start providing for the people. Of course, the Iranian regime is going to limits to not hear these voices.

The Iranian people are rightfully expecting politicians in European countries to pressure the Iranian regime in their talks and trade negotiations to have Tehran end its huge expenditures in Middle East countries and provide necessary budgets for the country’s construction needs.

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