Arrest of Several Teachers Following Protests in Tehran and Other Provinces

Reports indicate "beatings and arrests" of several individuals during the protest of employed and retired teachers in Tehran and other provinces "following severe confrontations with security forces." According to the Iranian Labor News Agency, ILNA, "hundreds of teachers" staged a protest on Thursday, May 20, in Tehran and several other cities. Sari, Kermanshah, Qorveh, Divandareh, Shiraz, Mamassani, Kazeroon, Isfahan, Marivan, Tabriz, and Khorramabad are among the other cities that witnessed protests. The aim of these protests, organized following a call from the "Coordination Council of Teacher Trade Associations of the Country," was to protest against "budget shortages for education and salaries below the poverty line." The protests took place in Tehran in front of the Organization for Planning and Budget and in other provinces in front of the education departments of each city. In this context, Sedigheh Pakdamir, a board member of the Teacher Trade Association of Tehran, mentioned in her Twitter account the arrest of several protesters and listed their names. According to Ms. Pakdamir, "Mohammad Taghi Fallahi, Mohammad Habibi, Ali Zolfi, Ismail Gerami, Mohammad Hassan Pooreh, and Rasool Badaghi" are among those arrested on Thursday. This member of the Teacher Trade Association of Tehran also reported the "brutal" beating of some participants in the Tehran protest. The resolution of the protest on Thursday stated: "The disregard for the lives and livelihoods of retired and employed teachers and the neglect of the quality of education in schools indicate that education is not a priority for the governing institutions and state officials." Especially in recent months, there has not been a day without news of protests by workers, teachers, and those who have lost their assets in Iran. At the end of Farvardin (April), teachers providing educational services protested in Qazvin, Kerman, Yazd, and several other cities over unpaid wage claims from the previous year. Prior to that, the Syndicate of Workers of Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Company reported in Bahman (January) 96 that at least 34 workers were arrested by special police forces while the workers continued their strike. Last week, following the government's refusal to grant permission for a Workers' Day march to the "Workers' House," hundreds of workers gathered in front of the office of this organization.