Iranian Teachers Union Calls For Protests On Tuesday

As the strikes and protest gatherings of various guilds as well as retirees continue in Iran, teachers’ main union has issued a statement calling on retirees and others to hold gatherings on Tuesday.

Referring to the ever-increasing inflation and the inability of officials to control prices and the decrease in people's purchasing power, the Coordination Council of Iranian Teachers' Trade Associations called on all "retired and working colleagues" to participate in the gathering.

Telecommunications retirees on Monday gathered in Esfahan, Sanandaj, Arak, Bandar Abbas, Kermanshah, and Khorramabad to protest the government’s inattention to their demands as inflation soars and their pensions remain unchanged.

Iran witnessed another wave of daily protests and strikes Sunday, as its currency sank leaving ordinary people to wonder how they can afford minimum necessities.

Bakers held a gathering in Tehran, while workers of Haft-Tappeh Sugarcane complex in the southwestern Khuzestan province, the Esfahan Steel Company in central Iran, and workers in several southern cities, where most of oil and gas companies are located, were on strike.

The steel company’s strike, which started Saturday, continued Sunday while security forces used water cannons to disperse the protesting workers. On Monday there were reports workers being arrested.

The company, called Zob Ahan in Persian, is directly controlled by the country’s Ministry of Industries and Mines, and is Iran's third largest steel producer and is the largest factory producing steel for construction.

In some other cities of the oil-rich province such as Shush, Shushtar, and Dezful as well as the central city of Kerman, pensioners held rallies and chanted slogans.