60+ Iranian Teachers Arrested, Jailed or Sentenced Since January Protests: Report
The Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) has released a new report detailing security and judicial pressure aimed at suppressing teachers and educators’ union activists following the January nationwide protests. The report confirms that, as of July 28, at least 60 teachers and union activists had been arrested, imprisoned, or sentenced.
The rights organization emphasized that the figures in the report represent a minimum baseline, noting that many cases, particularly in smaller towns, were never publicized. An 88-day internet shutdown further impaired documentation efforts.
According to the report, over the past seven months, security forces and judicial authorities have detained teachers on security-related charges, held several in prolonged solitary confinement, withheld medical treatment as a tool of coercion, and denied detainees access to legal counsel and contact with their families.
Several teachers have received heavy penalties, including long-term prison sentences, flogging, internal exile, and other civil deprivations. The report also highlights that numerous arrested educators remain in judicial limbo, with open cases months or even years after their initial detentions.
Hadi Ghaemi, Executive Director of CHRI, highlighted the role of educators as one of the country’s broadest independent civil society groups, stating: “By silencing teachers, students, lawyers, and other civil society activists, the Islamic Republic is attempting to dismantle the capacity for social mobilization and organization.”
Ghaemi urged the international community to deliver a “decisive, effective, and meaningful” response, calling on bodies such as the International Labour Organization (ILO), UNESCO, and dedicated UN mechanisms to break their silence.
CHRI called on all governments and organizations committed to human rights to publicly condemn the crackdown, consistently monitor the cases of jailed teachers, and utilize international mechanisms to hold the Islamic Republic accountable. The organization also urged targeted sanctions against officials involved in arbitrary detentions, torture, medical neglect, and the politically motivated prosecution of educators.
The report indicates that the scope of the crackdown in smaller municipalities is significantly broader than current documentation suggests. Citing informed sources, CHRI noted that educators in cities such as Arak, Zarrin Dasht, Qir and Karzin, Darab, Bojnourd, Sonqor, Gachsaran, Mahabad, Izeh, Khaf, Nurabad Mamasani, and dozens of other towns have faced arrest or judicial sentences, with many cases remaining unreported by the media.
The publication includes a partial roster of arrested or sentenced teachers, including Fatemeh Zarei, Jalil Shirdel, Esmail Khodayari, Kiomars Vaezi, Hamid Rahmati, Abolfazl Rahimi-Shad, Arman Shapouri, Abdolreza Qandahari, Arash Nikkhou, Koukab Bodaghi Pegah, Mohsen Khodaei, Reza Taheri, Ali Shamayeli, Mastoureh Narimani, Amir Rahimi, Ameneh Beyraghdari, Hossein Ramezanpour, Aziz Esmaeili, Ezzatollah Sadeghi, Ali Ahmadi, Bakhtiar Rezvani, Mojtaba Iravi, Zahra Arefimehr, Yousef Amini, Hadi Jalali, Mohammad-Reza Alijani, Arya Nourani, Ahmad Alizadeh, Jan-Mohammad Ahmadi, Azadeh Saleki, Reza Moslemi, and Sabah Valadbeigi.
Escalating pressure on imprisoned educators forms another key focus of the CHRI report. Union activist Masoud Farhikhteh has been repeatedly transferred to solitary confinement and denied contact with his family in recent months. Similarly, imprisoned union activist Abolfazl Khoran, who is being held in Arak Prison, continues to be denied access to required surgery and specialized medical care.
CHRI concludes that ongoing arrests, harsh sentences, medical neglect, and institutional pressure against imprisoned teachers constitute a systematic policy by the Islamic Republic to neutralize educators’ civil and union activities following the December protests.
The Coordination Council of Iranian Teachers’ Trade Associations previously issued a statement condemning the judicial and security escalation against educators, emphasising that while society desperately needs dialogue regarding educational and economic grievances, “the pattern of case fabrication, detentions, and heavy sentencing against union activists persists unabated.”