Teachers in Iran have continued their protests into the new year with great force. The latest uprising spread nationwide across 116 cities in 30 of the country’s provinces, with the unrest being heavily aimed towards the Iranian regime as protesters up and down the country chanted slogans such as, “the government is betraying, the parliament is supporting.”
On January 14, one teacher in Shiraz called out regime officials and proudly stated, “Inshallah (God willing), you thieves, white-collar bureaucrats, white-collar crooks, you dastards of Iran’s history, you will be overthrown!” His fellow colleagues responded with shouts of “Inshallah, Inshallah,” in support of his comments.
The People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) said, “The uprising overcame the systemic effort to suppress and suffocate dissent, with many of the teachers shouting ‘The imprisoned teacher must be released’, a common theme across the recent protests.”
Within the past two months, teachers across Iran have organized and participated in three nationwide protests, on December 13, December 23, and January 13, as they continue to fight for their rights, with the growing unrest intensifying each time.
In support of the teachers and their demonstrations, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), Maryam Rajavi spoke out, stating, “By persisting on their rights, the teachers taught the lesson of resistance against oppression and tyranny.”
The regime’s attempts to repress the unrest, and intimidate Iranian citizens, are doing little to silence the restive society. Even the installation of former Judiciary Chief, Ebrahim Raisi to the presidency, and his acceleration of executions in the country since his inauguration last August, have not scared the Iranian people into submission.
Just a few years ago, the first protests organized by teachers were attended by barely a few dozen people. Back then, during a gathering outside the regime’s parliament in Tehran, protesters were attacked with batons and tear gas by the regime’s security forces. However, this attempt to disperse the crowd was unsuccessful, and since then, the teachers’ protests have grown larger, and louder, and are becoming a force to be reckoned with.
The MEK said, “These days, the power of sharing information across social media is bringing people together from far and wide with great force. Despite the full mobilization of the regime’s repressive forces to thwart the unrest, these recent nationwide protests have proven that the Iranian people cannot, and will not, be silenced.”
The regime’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, is desperate to hold onto power no matter what it takes. With each uprising, the regime is growing weaker and weaker, and their vulnerability is greatly highlighted in their inability to deal with Iran’s current crises and resolve them.
At the same time, the anger, and hatred against the regime within Iranian society is increasing on a daily basis. The resistance units are standing by protesters, and organizing courageous activities to motivate and encourage people to rise up and fight for their rights.
The MEK said, “This process testifies to the ‘revolutionary circumstances’ of Iranian society, which speaks a great deal about significant and fundamental changes looming on the horizon.”
