Exclusive: Protesting Teachers in Iran’s Kurdistan Face Severe Retribution

IranWire has obtained a confidential document showing that the education authorities in the north-western Iranian province of Kurdistan have demoted dozens of teachers who supported anti-government protests last year.

The multi-page decree reveals that the province’s General Department of Education formed an “Emergency Committee” on November 7 following an order from the Supreme National Security Council to punish "leaders of sit-ins and other instigators of recent disturbances."

"The goal of this committee is to identify influential trade union activists and systematically suppress them at the provincial level, especially in the cities of Sanandaj, Marivan and Saqqez,” a source told IranWire.

Teachers have been at the forefront of the protest movement in cities across Kurdistan by repeatedly going on strike. The Kurdistan Teachers' Union has published statements and called for rallies demanding fundamental economic, social and political changes in the country and criticizing the authorities’ brutal clampdown on dissent. 

In retribution, the General Department of Education of Kurdistan issued a decree to remove at least 35 members of the Teachers Union’s provincial branch from a recently approved ranking system and demoted dozens of other teachers. 

Under the new ranking system, teachers' salaries will be determined by their level of qualification and experience, among other criteria. One of the stated aims of the new system is to improve the quality of education. 

Those included in the decree of the General Department of Education of Kurdistan are accused of membership in illegal associations and participation in protests. They are also blamed for trying to “publish lies,” incite the community of educators and students, initiate “psychological warfare” and act against internal security, among other things.

IranWire’s source said that the education authorities decided to transfer most cases to the Education Ministry’s Administrative Violations Board for further investigation, instead of the general and revolutionary courts.

The authorities have cracked down hard on the widespread protests sparked by the September 2022 death of a young woman, Mahsa Amini, in police custody. 

Security forces have killed more than 520 people and unlawfully detained over 20,000, activists say. Following biased trials, the judiciary handed down stiff sentences, including the death penalty, to protesters.