230 Teachers Arrested In Iran In Past Two Months

More than 230 teachers and teachers' union activists have been “abducted” and detained in various cities across Iran during the past two months, their union says. 

The Coordination Council of Iranian Teachers' Trade Associations said Sunday that there is no information available about the situation of several of the imprisoned teachers. 

It added that three of the arrested activists, Rasoul Bodaghi, Mohammad Habibi and Jafar Ebrahimi, are being held in solitary confinement in ward 240 of Evin Prison, which is controlled by the Intelligence Ministry "without the right to contact or visit by their families" since two weeks ago. 

Earlier in the month, teachers held another round of nationwide protest against their low salaries and systematic discrimination, while anti-government protests and strikes by merchants and pensioners continued in Iran.

Teachers have been holding frequent protests for nearly a year, but the political situation in Iran has worsened in recent months, with rising food prices and a growing perception of government inefficiency and corruption.

Four years of deep economic crisis in Iran following the introduction of United States ‘maximum pressure’ sanctions in 2018 has led to a sharp increase in living costs and labor unrest.

People from different walks of life, including nurses, firefighters, and even judiciary department employees and prison guards, have held protest rallies or strikes to demand higher salaries.