Bushehr Teachers' Union Condemns Arrest of Two Educational Activists

The Bushehr Teachers' Union condemned the arrest of two members of the Fars Teachers' Association in Shiraz in a statement. In their statement on October 7, they condemned the 'illegal actions against educational activists,' including the arrests of Gholamreza Gholami Khandazi and Iraj Rahnama, and emphasized that they would spare no effort in supporting imprisoned teachers. The Bushehr Teachers' Union also criticized the 'suppression, illegal arrests, fabricated charges, imprisonment, and expulsion' of educational activists by the government. Gholamreza Gholami Khandazi and Iraj Rahnama, activists from Fars province, were arrested by government forces in Shiraz on October 5, coinciding with World Teachers' Day. According to the Coordinating Council of Teachers' Associations of Iran, these two activists were arrested after visiting the Shiraz governor's office to follow up on the holding of the annual assembly of their union. No information has been released regarding the charges, their place of detention, or the arresting agency. In this regard, the Fars Teachers' Association has called for accountability from security agencies as the responsible authorities for citizen security, the arresting agency, and the Shiraz governor's office. According to HRANA, the news agency of human rights activists in Iran, Gholamreza Gholami Khandazi and Iraj Rahnama have a history of arrests due to their union activities and participation in union gatherings. So far, several educational activists have been sentenced to prison, expulsion, forced retirement, suspension, and confiscation of property on security charges. Additionally, it is noted that the Ministry of Education is facing a shortage of 200,000 teachers for approximately 460,000 students. The secretary of the teachers' union stated that the severe budget deficit is the cause of the teacher shortage for 460,000 students. Concurrently with the expulsion of 'student teachers,' the Minister of Education reported on 'classes without teachers.' Jafar Ebrahimi, a veteran imprisoned teacher, was released after being accused of 'illegal sit-in,' and Hashim Khwastaar, another imprisoned teacher, was tried again.