At Least 17 Teacher Activists Summoned in Sanandaj

Iran's intelligence agencies have summoned at least 17 teachers and teacher union activists in the city of Sanandaj. The channel of the 'Coordination Council of Iranian Teachers' Trade Unions' announced the names of those summoned on Wednesday, April 12, including Fatemeh Zandkarimi, Tohreh Hosseini, Reza Elyasi, Ali Ghorishi, Bahaddin Maleki, Kamal Fakourian, Salam Shafaei, Jabbar Pakzad, Mostafa Sarbazian, Saleh Saleh-Nia, Farhad Mowali, Reza Sharifeh, Peyman Navidinian, Mokhtar Asadi, Jamal Moradi, Farzad Asadpour, and Reza Salimi. According to HRANA, the news agency of human rights activists in Iran, government agents have taken 'commitments' from those summoned not to participate in the teachers' protest on April 13. The Coordination Council of Iranian Teachers' Trade Unions had previously called on teachers across the country to hold protests on Thursday, April 13, to achieve their demands. In recent days, several teacher activists in Sanandaj have also been summoned and threatened by intelligence agencies. The Coordination Council linked some of these summonses to the holding of the third round of elections for the Kurdistan Teachers' Trade Association, which took place on Tuesday, April 10. At least two retired teachers, Ahmad Nochiyaan and Maryam Zalaki, were also arrested on Tuesday, April 11, during a retirees' protest in Ahvaz. The intensification of security and judicial actions by the Islamic Republic against teacher union activists in recent years has faced criticism from international labor and teachers' unions. According to the Open Data of Iran, the minimum monthly wage for teachers in Iran is about $159. The arrest of at least two retirees followed their participation in the Ahvaz protest. Davood Mahdian, a retired teacher, was summoned to the Revolutionary Court following a complaint from the IRGC intelligence in Malayer. After the employment test, jihadist activity and membership in the Basij are conditions for the 'selection' of teachers.