Teachers' Unions: We Hope People's Demands Will Be Realized in the New Year

Teachers' unions in various cities across Iran expressed hope in messages marking the beginning of the new year that in 1403, teachers and the public will achieve their demands, referencing last year's protests and the deaths of many demonstrators. According to the Telegram channel of the Coordination Council of Teachers' Unions of Iran, the Teachers' Union of Kurdistan (Saqez, Zivieh, Divandereh, Sanandaj, Marivan, and Sarvabad) stated, "We hope the new year will be the year of achieving all our rightful wishes for which we have been struggling for many years." The statement, referencing the arrival of spring and remembering the victims of the chemical bombing of Halabja during the Iran-Iraq war, added: "This year's Nowruz, with the memory of dozens of martyrs of the 'Women, Life, Freedom' revolution and the imprisonment of thousands of innocent youths, and the injury of hundreds in the ongoing process of this uprising, makes the sweetness of Nowruz even more bitter for us." The Teachers' Union of Kurdistan noted that spring 1403 arrives while "dozens of teachers are imprisoned for defending the rights of their peers and students, and hundreds of teachers have been dismissed, exiled, etc." They reminded: "The government may remain with disbelief, but not with oppression!!! Your oppression and tyranny herald the sunset of your despotism!" The Fars Teachers' Union also stated that "the year 1402 was difficult for the Iranian nation, educators, and all professions, cultural, labor, and political organizations." This organization expressed hope that "this year, with unity, solidarity, and cooperation, we can initiate a new plan and witness transformation in the field of education and changes in the country's macro policies." Additionally, the Iranian Teachers' Union (Tehran) wrote in its statement: "We begin the new year by remembering and honoring all those who lost their lives in the struggle for liberation; those who were imprisoned in the search for freedom and those who strive to live within the circle of truth and, in a word, for a human life, continue and resist, and we congratulate all the activists." The Teachers' Union of Bushehr province also said: "We begin Nowruz 1403 while every year we hope for a new day, a new thought, a new change, and progress, sitting at a Nowruz table that has become empty and only vinegar remains, a vinegar that, although it bubbles, is still there, we raise our hands in prayer!!!" This union added: "The year 1402 was marked by widespread arrests and imprisonments of activists, workers, journalists, and any protester against the current situation, students who dropped out of school, classes without teachers, working children, and the deaths of porters, etc." The Teachers' Union of Bushehr concluded its statement wishing for a good year filled with "joy and freedom" for all people of Iran and improvement of all issues, especially "the livelihoods and empty tables of the people and the freedom of all prisoners from all classes and professions" in the coming year.