Officers raid homes of union-activist teachers; number of arrests reaches dozens
Following the publication of a public call for teachers to hold protest rallies on Sunday, May 1, a wave of arrests of teachers and educators' union activists by security officers began in a number of Iranian cities.
According to the information channels of the Teachers' Union in Iran, at least 23 people have been arrested so far when security forces raided teachers' homes or gatherings, although some sources have reported an increase in the number of arrests to 70.
Meanwhile, various news sources are reporting the summoning of dozens of teachers in various cities in Iran.
So far, the names of 23 teachers and union activists arrested on the eve of Teachers' Day or during rallies have been published, including Safar Ramezani and Dr. Asadi in Langrud, Salah Sorkhy in Saqqez, Mansoureh Erfanian in Mashhad, Ali Haji in Jolfa, Dr. Mahmoudi in Aligudarz, Reza Moslemmi in Hamedan, Mohammad Khajeh and Yousef Sayadi, Hamid Khojasteh, Ardeshir Sayadi, Fereydoun Shafi'i, Mahmoud Malaki, Mohsen Omrani, and Dr. Amanifar in Bushehr.
It has also been reported that in Marivan, Shaaban Mohammadi, Masoud Nikkhah, and Eskandar (Soran) Lotfi were arrested at their home at 4:00 AM.
Ali Akbar Baghani, Rasoul Badaghi, Mohammad Habibi, and Jafar Ebrahimi were previously arrested in Tehran.
Fatemeh Bahmani, a teacher and union activist in Shazand, Markazi Province, is one of those arrested when security officers stormed her home on Sunday, May 1.
The "Human Rights in Iran" page on Twitter announced the news, saying that during the raid, the officers also searched Ms. Bahmani's house, confiscated some of her personal belongings, and took her to an unknown location.
Ms. Bahmani and her husband, Mohammad Kurd, had previously been arrested for their union activities. Ms. Bahmani was arrested by security agents on January 23 last year and released a few hours later.
This union activist was arrested along with his wife in 2018 during a teachers' sit-in in Arak and transferred to the city's prison.
The teacher couple were ultimately sentenced in two separate cases by two courts to a total of two years in prison, suspended for three years, and a fine of 8 million Tomans.
Based on this public call, Iranian teachers held rallies across the country on Sunday, May 1, to pursue their demands.
Following the publication of this call in recent days, the arrests of teachers and union activists began in various cities in Iran before Sunday. At the same time, rallies in many cities across the country on Sunday were accompanied by a heavy police presence and violence in some cities, including Bushehr.
The most important demand of Iran's working and retired teachers in the protest rallies of the past few months is the full implementation of the ranking plan for 80% of university faculty for working teachers and the implementation of equal pay for retired teachers.
Source: Radio Farda
