Shabtabnews In this dark night, I have lost my way – Arise from a corner, oh you the star of guidance.
RFL/RE – Several Iranian teachers have been disciplined or have been called for questioning by authorities for their support of the country’s students in their protests against the regime for its crackdown on freedoms and general concerns about eroding living standards in the country.
According to the Iranian Teachers’ Union’s Coordination Council, one teacher from the southwestern city of Lordegan has lost his position, while four teachers in Mamasani, Fars Province, were summoned by the authorities to give a defense for charges of “assembly and collusion against national security.”
The council said Rouhollah Gerehgosha, Shokrollah Ahmadi, Jan Mohammad Ahmadi, and Ali Ahmadi, who were previously detained for their involvement in supporting the students, are the four to have been summoned.
Meanwhile, Mohammad Saeidi Aboueshaqi, a teacher from Lordegan in the Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province, announced that the Supreme Court has upheld his dismissal due to his support for the nationwide protests, sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini while in police custody in September 2022.
On February 4, Saeidi posted on Instagram that the Supreme Court confirmed the initial verdict, stating he was dismissed for “protest activities” in recent years, for being “the voice of the oppressed and tortured people,” and for “sympathizing and assisting the families seeking justice.”
The activist HRANA news agency had previously reported that the Administrative Offenses Board of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari accused Aboueshaqi of meeting with families of protest victims and posting content on social media that was deemed supportive of “hostile groups,” leading to his dismissal from the education department.
The spate of convictions and sentences are part of a long-running campaign by authorities against educators in Iran.
Several protests have been held by teachers over the past year in response to declining living standards, wage arrears, and a lack of welfare support. Labor law in Iran does not recognize the right of workers to form independent unions.
That campaign has been coupled with a wave of repression against educators for their involvement in protests over the past year in support of the Women, Life, Freedom movement, which was triggered by the death of 22-year-old Amini.
According to a report published by the Iranian Teachers’ Union’s Coordination Council in June, “over 250 teachers and cultural union activists were arrested, imprisoned, dismissed, or exiled” in the 2022 alone, and “cases have been fabricated against many teachers.”
