PDB Afternoon Bulletin | September 11th, 2026: Strikes Are Spreading Across Iran & Anthropic Warns of AI Bioweapon Risks

Mike Baker (0:12)

It's Friday, the 11th of September, 25 years on from 9-11. Now, if you care to remind yourself what that feeling was like in the wake of that terrible day, or maybe you're trying to explain it to a young person, might I suggest watching the U2 Tribute from the Super Bowl Halftime Show back on the 3rd of February, 2002?

Just a thought. Welcome to the PDB Afternoon Bulletin. I'm Mike Baker. Your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. First up, labor unrest is spreading across Iran, with truckers, taxi drivers, and rideshare workers striking as fuel shortages and soaring costs continue to squeeze ordinary Iranians.

Later in the show, we'll look at a new warning from Anthropic that people are already trying to use advanced AI for cyberattacks, weapons development, and potentially dangerous biological research. But first, today's afternoon spotlight. We've been watching the economic pressure build inside Iran for some time now. That includes the country's shrinking oil revenues, the collapse of the real, the rising inflation, more recently growing fuel shortages and higher prices at the pump. Now those problems are creating the biggest threat to the regime's grip on power, mounting frustration among ordinary Iranians and a growing wave of labor unrest across the country. According to a new report from the Wall Street Journal, Iran is struggling with long lines at gas stations, fuel shortages, and now strikes and protests by truckers and taxi drivers and rideshare workers. The immediate trigger is a new round of fuel price increases. This week, the Iranian government doubled the price of some gasoline once drivers exhaust their cheap monthly fuel allotment. By American standards, gasoline in Iran is still extraordinarily cheap. The higher rate works out to roughly 4 cents per liter. But that number looks very different inside an economy where many Iranians earn little more than the equivalent of $100 a month.

Filling up after the cheapest government subsidized fuel runs out can now cost roughly $2 for a car and $5 for a truck. At the same time, Tehran has already reduced the amount of subsidized fuel available to some drivers. And in parts of the country, there simply isn't enough fuel to go around. The Journal reports that some gas stations ran dry as drivers rushed to fill their tanks before the new prices took effect. The shortages are increasingly affecting people who depend on their vehicles to earn a living. And that's where this economic story becomes a labor story. The frustration is no longer limited to complaints about prices or long lines of gas stations. In several parts of the country, workers are now protesting, staging strikes, and threatening to stop moving goods altogether. On Thursday, 120 taxi drivers in Kerman province protested cuts to their subsidized fuel allocation, saying they now run out of their allotted supply well before the month ends. Drivers for Snap, that's Iran's version of Uber, have also gone on strike in several cities. The company is one of Iran's largest private employers, with roughly 3 million drivers. In the industrial city of Arak, dozens gathered outside the governor's office this week, saying they could no longer make ends meet.

In Semnan, east of Tehran, rideshare drivers reportedly drove through the city in protest over the weekend, blocking traffic. In one video cited by the Journal, a driver declared that everyone had stopped working. Truck drivers are also warning that the situation is becoming untenable. Truckers at the Mehran crossing along Iran's border with Iraq staged a one-day strike late last month over fuel shortages. That crossing plays an important role in bringing food and other staples into the country. And on Tuesday, truckers in Bandar Abbas, the port that handles most of Iran's container traffic, warned that they could walk off the job as well. In a statement, they said drivers and their families were being forced to absorb the rising cost of fuel and could no longer bear the pressure.

That is particularly significant because these aren't workers on the margins of the Iran economy. They are responsible for moving people, food, commercial goods, and other essentials around the country. And according to one Iranian trucking official, the shortages drivers are facing now are worse than what they experienced during the first month of the war. He said the truckers kept cargo moving even under missile attacks and did not stop the flow of goods. Today, those same drivers are spending hours waiting in line just to refuel.

The broader economic picture is just as grim. Food inflation reportedly hit 128 percent in August. The Iranian rial fell to another record low this week, crossing 2.3 million rial to the dollar. And businesses are adapting to a population that increasingly can't afford basic expenses.