Nationwide Teachers’ Gathering Begins; Security Measures and Detention of At Least Two People in Tehran
Coinciding with the start of another nationwide gathering of teachers in several Iranian cities, reports have emerged of security measures and the detention of a number of teachers in Tehran.
According to the “Coordinating Council of Trade Associations of Iranian Educators,” from the early hours of Thursday, May 12, Baharestan Street around the building of the Islamic Consultative Assembly has been filled with special forces units, security force vans, plainclothes officers, and police forces.
According to this council, concurrent with security forces preventing the formation of any gathering, two protesting teachers named Masoud Farrokh Khata and Lotfollah Jamshidi have been detained.
Teachers in Iran protested again after the Minister of Education and Training threatened them with dismissal, and the Ministry of Intelligence of the Islamic Republic announced on Wednesday the arrest of two citizens of a “European” country in Iran on charges of attempting to create “unrest,” claiming they had been in contact with the Coordinating Council of Trade Associations of Iranian Educators.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, photos and videos of teachers’ gatherings in dozens of cities across the country, including Amol, Kermanshah, Marivan, and Sanandaj, were published.
The Professional Association of Educators of Isfahan also reported that one of its members named “Emadi” was detained by security forces in the city on Wednesday evening, May 11, and after confiscating his communication devices, “false” messages with the content of “termination of Isfahan association’s permit” were sent from his mobile phone and user account to Telegram groups.
The Coordinating Council of Trade Associations of Iranian Educators announced on May 7 in a statement that if detained teachers are not released, teachers will hold a nationwide gathering on Thursday, May 12.
Human Rights Watch cited the number of detained teachers as at least 38, and some sources reported an increase in detentions to 70 people.
The Coordinating Council of Trade Associations of Iranian Educators reported on Monday, May 9, that detained teachers Rasoul Badaghi, Jafar Ebrahimi, Mohammad Habibi, and Ali-Akbar Baghani “have been subjected to intense interrogations in recent days to impose non-professional charges.”
Teachers have held numerous widespread protest gatherings in dozens of cities over the past year. The incomplete passage of the teacher ranking plan, the failure to implement wage equalization for retirees, and the “continuous and systematic” suppression of professional activists have been among the main complaints in teachers’ protests.
Source: Radio Farda
