Teachers' Unions Request Rouhani to Remove Barriers to Union Activities

Teachers' union activists in several provinces of Iran have requested Hassan Rouhani in a letter to "remove real and legal barriers" regarding union activities and to form a committee to investigate the "violation of rights" of teachers' union activists and defend them. These union activists also referred to the Ministry of Intelligence's complaint against Mahmoud Beheshti, the imprisoned spokesperson of the teachers' union, asking the Iranian president to prevent this ministry's complaint against teachers. According to the Telegram channel of the Iranian Teachers' Union, the letter states that the judiciary has further shown its indifference towards the teaching community by the recent arrests of Ismail Abdi, Mahmoud Beheshti Langarudi, Mohsen Omrani, and Mokhtar Asadi just before the school year begins. The authors of this letter claim that the Iranian teaching community has "almost lost hope" in the judiciary due to the heavy sentences issued against union activists, but they are waiting to see practical actions from the president "against the violation of the rights of union activists and in defense of their civil activities." The teachers' union activists requested the Iranian president to form a committee to investigate the "violation of rights" of teachers' union activists and defend the rights of the country's teachers' representatives through this committee. The authors of this letter also called on Hassan Rouhani to "annul the security sentences" of Mahmoud Beheshti Langarudi, Ismail Abdi, and Mokhtar Asadi and to "hold a fair and public trial with a jury regarding the activists of the teachers' unions." The Tehran Teachers' Union also demanded the unconditional release of all imprisoned, exiled, and sentenced teachers in protest against the arrest of Mahmoud Beheshti Langarudi, its spokesperson, on Wednesday, September 22. Protests by teachers in Iran have intensified since the 2000s, and in recent years, especially during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency, several teachers' union activists have been arrested by security agencies and sentenced to long prison terms. In recent years, several imprisoned teachers have also been deprived of teaching. Among those who have been imprisoned or exiled in recent years are Rasool Badaghi, Abdolreza Ghanbari, Mahmoud Beheshti Langarudi, Ismail Abdi, Mahmoud Bagheri, Nabiollah Bastan, and Ali Akbar Baghani. Meanwhile, these teachers' union activists have called on the Iranian president to take steps to "recognize the activities of independent teachers' organizations and remove real and legal barriers in front of them." The authors of this letter also requested that Rasool Badaghi and Abdolreza Ghanbari be allowed to teach, as they were arrested following protests against the 2009 presidential election and spent seven years in prison. Teachers' union activists in Tehran, East Azerbaijan, Alborz, North Khorasan, Fars, Khuzestan, Gilan, Mazandaran, Hamadan, and cities such as Khomeini Shahr, Shahreza in Isfahan province, and Marivan in Kurdistan province have signed this letter. The Islamic Republic's institutions do not recognize union activities in many cases, and many professions in Iran are effectively deprived of having a union. In Iran, security and police forces deal harshly with union activists and gatherings, and many union activists from various professions have been repeatedly arrested and imprisoned. In this context, on September 12 of this year, two international labor and teachers' unions jointly criticized the crackdown on union activists in Iran. The International Transport Workers' Federation and Education International stated that "the union rights of activists in Iran are denied" and that union leaders in Iran are arrested in connection with "their union activities and defending their colleagues." However, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the spokesperson for the Iranian judiciary, claimed on Sunday, September 26, that individuals in Iran "are not arrested due to their union activities or religion." In this letter, teachers' union activists also referred to the complaint by the Ministry of Intelligence against Mahmoud Beheshti Langarudi and asked the president to prevent this ministry's complaint against teachers. They wrote to Mr. Rouhani: "If other institutions are creating cases against union activists and you remain silent in the face of violators of the rights of the nation under the pretext of undermining the independence of these institutions, at least prevent your Ministry of Intelligence from complaining against teachers." Mr. Beheshti had previously requested in a letter that Hassan Rouhani instruct the Minister of Intelligence to "address the security problems of those who have been unjustly imprisoned due to the illegal intervention of the previous government or have been falsely accused."