Some Teachers Have Been Deprived of Ranking Due to Participation in Protests

Jalal Mahmoudzadeh, a member of parliament from Mahabad, announced on Wednesday that a number of teachers in several provinces of Iran have been deprived of the ranking law due to "allegations of participating in protests and union sit-ins." In a tweet describing this issue as "unpleasant news from education" and "regrettable," he urged Ebrahim Raisi, the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, to "quickly address this issue and deal with the perpetrators of this illegal action." Before Jalal Mahmoudzadeh made this announcement, teachers' unions had reported that a large number of teachers had been excluded from the ranking law due to their participation in union protests. In this regard, the Coordinating Council of Teachers' Unions of Iran wrote on Wednesday that the dismissal order for Abolfazl Rahimi-Shad, a teacher and union activist, had been issued by the primary administrative violations committee. According to this report, Mr. Rahimi-Shad's dismissal order was issued despite having 24 years and 8 months of work experience. The Coordinating Council of Teachers' Unions of Iran stated that this teacher, like hundreds of other teachers across Iran, has been deprived of ranking under the ranking law due to interference from the Ministry of Education's security. Additionally, the Coordinating Council of Teachers' Unions of Iran reported on Wednesday the issuance of a "forced retirement" order for Mohammad Reza Alijani, a veteran teacher and union activist residing in Chenaran. According to this report, Mr. Alijani's forced retirement order was issued by the Ministry of Education's administrative violations review committee, which also imposed a reduction in his retirement group and a decrease in his retirement salary and bonuses. In recent years, teachers in various regions of Iran have held numerous strikes and protests, while the Islamic Republic has intensified security and judicial crackdowns to quell these protests. In this context, several teacher union activists are currently imprisoned, including Mohammad Habibi, Ismail Abdi, Mohsen Omrani, Mehdi Fathi, Rasoul Badaghi, Masoud Farhikhteh, and Farzaneh Nazaranpour. Despite these crackdowns, teachers have continued their protests. Most recently, on Tuesday, teachers gathered in 24 cities across Iran, resulting in the arrest of four individuals. "Imprisoned teachers must be freed" was the slogan of teachers during the protest on May 8 in Rasht, where they demanded the release of imprisoned teachers in front of the Ministry of Education in Shush. Teachers in Kermanshah also called for the release of imprisoned teachers in Iran during the May 8 protest. The ongoing security and judicial crackdowns on teachers have left the status of the detainees unclear. Teachers held gatherings in 22 cities, while railway workers in Kerman and staff at Behesht Zahra also went on strike. Several individuals were arrested during the teachers' gatherings, and 11 teachers were summoned to the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Khuzestan.