13,000 Aging Passenger Vans Need Upgrades

Currently 13,000 passenger vans are operating in Iran’s public transportation fleet, all of which are dilapidated and in dire need of upgrades, the head of Iran Taxi Union said.
Morteza Zameni added that vans entered the country's public transportation fleet in 2006. With a capacity of 10 passengers, each van is able to transport twice the number of taxi passengers, hence it is more economical and environment-friendly, the Persian website Tabnak reported.
 But this is the case when the vans technically conform to emission standards, he added.
"The passenger vans in Iran have not been upgraded or replaced with new ones since they were first imported," Zameni said.
The official noted that almost all of these vans are fit for the scrap yard. 
"If no remedial measure is taken to tackle the problem, we will lose the vehicles, which have so far performed well in moving passengers," he added, calling on the suthorities concerned to obviate the impediments in the way of importing passenger vehicles. 
After US President Donald Trump reneged on Iran’s nuclear accord and reimposed sanctions against Tehran last summer, the national currency has lost 70% of its value and foreign currency rates have reached unprecedented highs. On Wednesday, the US dollar was traded at 130,000 rials in Tehran. The greenback was sold for 160,000 to 180,000 rials some months earlier. 
This is while in March, it hardly fetched 42,000 rials.
The Iranian government was forced to preserve its foreign currency reserves and impose strict limits on imports. Presently, the import of cars, including public transportation vehicles, is banned. 
Pointing to the fact that vans are not produced by local automakers, Zameni suggested repairs and upgrades of vans as an alternative and urged the officials to help solve the problem.