Teachers’ Protest Gatherings Held in Hundreds of Cities; At Least Three Arrested

Iranian teachers held their third protest gathering in the past month on Thursday, December 23rd, in over 50 cities across the country. Reports from Iran indicate at least three people were arrested during these gatherings.

Continuing the teachers’ protest demonstrations in Iran over recent months, a significant number of teachers gathered Thursday morning, December 23rd, in over 50 Iranian cities and chanted protest slogans, following a call by the Coordination Council of Iranian Educators’ Professional Organizations.

The Coordination Council of Iranian Educators’ Professional Organizations announced the names of three arrested individuals in Ahvaz and Bushehr on Thursday: Mohsen Omrani and Mahmoud Malaki, two teachers’ union activists in Bushehr, and Pirouz Nami, secretary of the board of directors of the teachers’ professional organization in Khuzestan, in Ahvaz.

It has been reported that several others have also been arrested in Ahvaz.

In part of the final statement of this gathering, “the government’s negligence toward education” was protested. In this statement, the Coordination Council of Iranian Educators’ Professional Organizations, in addition to demanding the “principled and complete” implementation of educators’ grading and equalization of retirees’ benefits, also called for “the release of imprisoned teachers and the dismissal of cases against union activists and stopping the summoning and interrogation of teachers by security organizations.”

Based on reports published on social media networks, teachers in Tehran gathered in front of the Iranian Parliament building with slogans including “imprisoned teachers must be freed” and “teacher, cry out for your rights.”

In some of the gatherings, teachers in other cities also raised their pens with slogans stating that “the pen is my weapon” and “the pen is mightier than the gun.”

The most important demands of active and retired teachers in recent protest gatherings are the complete implementation of grading at 80 percent of university faculty level for active teachers and the implementation of salary equalization for retired teachers.

After about ten years of uncertainty and increasing teacher protest gatherings in recent months, the teachers’ grading bill finally passed the Iranian Parliament on December 24th of this year.

In response to how this bill was passed, the spokesperson for the Teachers’ Professional Organization stated that the approved bill does not have the approval of teachers and educators’ professional organizations, saying that “nationwide teachers’ gatherings will continue until their demands are met.”

Up to this hour, photos of gatherings in over 30 cities in Iran have been published on social media networks, including in Mashhad, Neka, Kermanshah, Sari, Tehran, Rasht, Yazd, Isfahan, Izeh, and Marivan.

The holding of teachers’ protest gatherings in recent months, especially in major cities, has sometimes been accompanied by intense security measures, violence against protesters, and arrests of some of them.

On Thursday as well, a number of users reported “the extensive presence of police, security forces, and police vehicles at the entrances of Baharestan Metro and streets leading to Parliament” in Tehran.

The escalation of nationwide educators’ protests is occurring at a time when the Islamic Republic of Iran is struggling with significant economic problems, including those caused by economic sanctions resulting from nuclear activities.

According to Iran’s Statistical Center, the annual inflation rate in November was 44.4 percent, and based on official statistics from the Labor Ministry, the average price of more than 83 percent of food items in Iran has exceeded crisis levels.

Source: Radio Farda