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Iran Cracks Down on Rich People Hiring Ambulances to Beat Traffic Jams

Wealthy Iranians in Tehran have offered up to a month’s salary in exchange for a ride.

Iran is reportedly cracking down on wealthy elites using the illegal practice of hiring an ambulance to speed through traffic jams. Iranian news outlets report that Tehran’s prosecutor general has issued an order to end the ambulance violations, and the police have been told to stop ambulances that are found to be transporting people who are not patients and to refer the company to court. The New York Times reports that hiring an ambulance as a private car and chauffeur has become the latest trend in the country where traffic can turn a 10-minute drive into a two-hour trek. Wealthy Iranians are offering up to a month’s salary in exchange for a ride, and some dispatchers agree. Mahmoud Rahimi, the head of Naji private ambulance service in Tehran, told the Times, “We are not a taxi service with a siren for the rich.”