Minister of Education: We Must Consider Teachers' Activities in Cyberspace

On Wednesday, July 21, the Minister of Education criticized what he called "disorder" and "neglect" in cyberspace, stating that "we must think about the presence of teachers in cyberspace." Reza Morad Sahraei did not provide details on the "neglect" and how potential restrictions on teachers' activities in cyberspace, including social media, would be implemented. So far, several critical teachers have faced security and judicial actions due to their union activities in cyberspace. In this regard, according to the wife of Mohammad Habibi, spokesperson for the Tehran Teachers' Union, the activities of this protesting teacher in cyberspace have been cited as examples of the accusations against him. Mr. Habibi was arrested in May of this year on charges of "gathering and colluding against national security" and was temporarily released on a bail of one billion tomans after about two weeks. Punishments for teachers due to their comments in cyberspace have also affected retirees. Alireza Kafai, a retired teacher and head of the Islamic Teachers' Association of Gachsaran, was sentenced to six months in prison about two years ago for "insulting the leadership" on Telegram. In recent years, teachers and cultural activists have consistently faced increasing pressures, including arrests, imprisonment, and deprivation of rights and benefits, due to their pursuit of professional and livelihood demands. Currently, several teachers and union activists are imprisoned or detained on security charges, including Ismail Abdi, Rasoul Badaghi, Jafar Ebrahimi, Mehdi Fathi, Hashem Khashtar, Hossein Ramadanpour, Omid Shahmohammadi, and Anoush Adeli. Other imprisoned teachers and activists include Mahmoud Sediqi Pour, Aziz Qasemi Zadeh, Mahmoud Malaki, Javad Laleh Mohammadi, Zeinab Hamrang, Maryam Jalal Hosseini, Nahid Shirpish, and Asghar Amirzadegan. Meanwhile, teachers' unions reported that in continuation of administrative actions against teachers and their union activists, a "final ruling for forced retirement and reduction of rank and removal from ranking has been issued to Yaqoub Mohammadi, a teacher in the city of Abdanan." Previously, the Coordination Council of Iranian Teachers' Unions emphasized that coercive actions and the policy of "victory through fear" have never been able to divert union activists from pursuing their legal demands. "Imprisoned teachers must be freed" is the slogan of retired educators in Ardabil – Tuesday, July 6. Fatemeh Tadresi, a jailed teacher, speaks about the dire conditions of prisoners in the women's prison of Qarchak Varamin. The challenge of "grading papers" in the Iranian education system; sending threatening text messages to protesting teachers. Hengaw: At least 168 people were arrested last month in Iran. The release of Akbar Tabari and the continued imprisonment of Ismail Abdi; cultural organizations protest the dual approach.