NCRI – Parents of elementary school students in Qazvin, northern Iran, protested against the compulsory use of their children to welcome the Iranian regime’s President Hassan Rouhani for his official regional visit.
According to the state-run Sobh-e Qazvin news agency, on the eve of the trip to Qazvin Province by the mullahs’ president, on September 27, the elementary school students in the province, even first-graders, were obliged to come with their parents to greet Rouhani.
While expressing their strong objections, parents of a student told the agency: “How can elementary school children welcome the president. If an incident occurs, who is responsible for our children?”
Parents were forced to sign this consent form for their children to take part in the welcome ceremony for Rouhani
Another student’s parents said: “The Department of Education is forcing the students to take part in the welcome ceremony; consent sheets were distributed among the families and those who did not sign the form are facing disciplinary action and the threat of score deductions in their children’s record.”
News published in social media and the Telegram network indicate that the children were used to distribute Rouhani’s posters on the streets of Qazvin which caused grave concerns among the parents due to crowded streets and high traffic.
At the same time, free clothing, hats, and free meals, etc. were also distributed during Rouhani’s trip to Qazvin to bring people to greet him, but the route for Rouhani’s travel seemed empty and deserted.
In the meantime, young people used the opportunity to protest and express their objections along the Rouhani’s travel route on the streets by holding up handwritten placards and leaflets against him and tearing up pictures of Rouhani and other officials of the regime.
