In a wave of demonstrations sweeping through Iran, teachers have taken to the streets in more than 10 cities on Thursday, May 2, protesting against deteriorating living conditions and facing subsequent arrests.
Reports indicate that teachers organized protests outside educational institutions across several Iranian cities, decrying the poor economic situation. In Tehran, educators staged a demonstration in front of the Ministry of Planning and Budget of the clerical regime.
Protests were reported in cities including Tehran, Saqqez, Yasuj, Rasht, Harsin, Qazvin, Bushehr, Marivan, Ilam, and Islam Abad-e Gharb.
Security forces detained several teachers and union activists, at least in Tehran and Bushehr, southern Iran. Simultaneously, alongside the protests, a concluding statement was issued. The statement highlighted that teachers are “more than ever in a quandary to achieve rights and justice for themselves and their students.”
May 2—Marivan, western #Iran
Teachers hold rally, demanding better pay and work conditions and reforms to education policies. Protest rally is taking place despite the presence of security forces.#IranProtests pic.twitter.com/D2R5Def8Xj— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) May 2, 2024
The statement pointed to “inflation resulting from mismanagement, sanctions, corruption, and increasing embezzlement,” stating that these factors “have emptied people’s tables and removed the motivation for teaching and learning for both teachers and students.” It criticized security forces and the Judiciary for suppressing and threatening protesting teachers, denying them, isolating them, and imprisoning them.
Among the teachers’ demands, according to the statement, are “the release of imprisoned teachers and the annulment of dismissal, isolation, early retirement, and house arrest sentences for union activists,” “free education for all students, especially 930,000 deprived students,” “cancellation of university admission quotas and removal of educational discrimination,” and “provision of educational environments for three million students in these hazardous environments, including schools made of fabric and containers.”
May 2—Eslam Abad Gharb, western #Iran
Teachers hold rally in front of the offices of the education ministry, protesting education policies and the militarization of education institutes, and demanding the release of arrested teachers. #IranProtests pic.twitter.com/CnwM9WJd4E— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) May 2, 2024
In recent days, security and judicial pressures on union activists as well as teachers have escalated.
On Wednesday, May 1, at least 17 teachers and union activists for teachers in Sanandaj city were summoned to the city’s security agencies. Prior to that, on Tuesday, April 30, retired teachers were arrested during a retirees’ gathering in Ahvaz, southern Iran.
The regime’s intensified oppression and crackdown coincide with a surge in state-sanctioned executions, aimed at quelling dissent during a period of international isolation and worries of facing its strategic miscalculations.
May 2—Harsin, western #Iran
Teachers hold rally in front of the offices of the education ministry, protesting education policies and the militarization of education institutes, and demanding the release of arrested teachers.#IranProtests pic.twitter.com/D5wcEvnHhQ— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) May 2, 2024
