Nationwide Teachers Gathering Amid ‘Severe’ Security Atmosphere and Large Presence of Special Police
In response to a call from the Coordinating Council of Cultural Workers’ Trade Unions, teachers’ gatherings in various Iranian cities, including Kurdish-populated areas, began on Thursday, June 16, in an atmosphere of intense security and the presence of law enforcement and intelligence forces.
Multiple images have been published of preliminary teachers’ nuclei gatherings in the cities of Marivan, Sanandaj, Tehran, Andimeshk, Saghez, Bokhan, Hamadan, and Karaj.
Videos from Tehran show that security personnel and special units are extensively present in front of the Islamic Consultative Assembly to prevent the gathering from taking place.
Social media users also report a severe security atmosphere in Mashhad to prevent teachers’ gatherings.
In Marivan, teachers gathered in front of the city’s Education Department despite the heavy security situation.
Reports on social media indicate that in the city of Kamyaran, the presence of security forces on streets and alleys leading to the city’s Education Department is so extensive that it has taken on a “military rule” character.
Social media users report the formation of preliminary gathering nuclei in Isfahan despite the presence of a large number of security and police forces.
It has been reported that Aziz Ghasemzadeh, a teacher and spokesperson for the Gilestan Professional Center of Cultural Workers, was arrested by security forces early Thursday morning, June 16, before the start of teachers’ protest gatherings in Rasht.
At least ten trade union activists in Saghez and Divandarreh were also arrested on the eve of the Coordinating Council of Iranian Cultural Workers’ Trade Unions’ call for a nationwide teachers’ gathering.
Prior to this, officials from the Intelligence Ministry and the Sepah’s Intelligence Organization had summoned several trade union and cultural activists by phone and threatened them regarding participation in today’s gatherings.
The Coordinating Council of Iranian Cultural Workers’ Trade Unions, while issuing a call for renewed teachers’ gatherings, has called for the immediate and unconditional release of all arrested teachers.
The council’s statement says: “We announce loudly and clearly that if our colleagues are not rapidly and unconditionally released, and if the legitimate and legal demands of Iranian teachers are not implemented, professional protests will continue.”
In recent years, Iranian teachers have repeatedly held peaceful protest gatherings in objection to their living conditions and the government’s disregard for their demands, but the authorities’ response to these peaceful demonstrations has been arrests, violent confrontations, and suppression.
The incomplete passage of the teachers’ ranking plan, the non-implementation of pension equalization, the “continuous and systematic” suppression of trade union activists, and the arrest of teachers have been the main themes of cultural workers’ protests over the past year.
Source: Radio Farda
