The Iranian regime’s president Ebrahim Raisi presented the new budget bill last week to the Majlis (parliament) for the next Persian year of 1401, which starts in March 2022. So far, the reports and figures show that the regime has no intentions to address the needs of the Iranian people, who have been protesting for their rights and for the government to solve the socio-economic problems in Iran.
Among the protesting communities are teachers, farmers, retired government employees and workers across various industries. In recent months, most notably are the protests of teachers who have been holding nationwide rallies to demand education reform, the removal of discriminatory rules and better wages. In response, the Majlis have only addressed a small fraction of their needs.
The People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) said, “In recent days, against the regime’s repressive measures, people from all walks of life are returning to the streets to voice their protest and reclaim their rights in the only way they can. And in these efforts, they have the support of the Resistance Units, the network of MEK activists inside Iran.”
The Resistance Units have been showing their support for the teachers and farmers in their ongoing activities across Iran, and stating the case that the only solution to resolve society’s problems in the country is to overthrow the Iranian regime to create a better tomorrow for future generations.
In Tehran, the Resistance Units installed a poster, which read, “Hail to freedom-loving teachers and to their bravery. The Iranian people should support teachers. Hail to teachers. Teachers are aware and hate tyrants.”
They have also installed similar posters in different cities across Iran, featuring messages from Massoud Rajavi, the leader of the Iranian Resistance movement, and the president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), Maryam Rajavi.
The MEK said, “After months of protests by Iran’s teachers, the Iranian regime finally declared that it will be addressing their demands in a bill passed by the Majlis (parliament). But, as was expected by many, the bill is a half-measure only meant to shut down the voice of protesters without solving any fundamental problems.”
Last Wednesday, the ‘teacher’s ranking’ bill was passed by the Majlis. This particular bill has been one of the main demands that millions of teachers across Iran have been protesting about for the past few months. However, the teachers have been calling out the regime for not addressing any of their other needs.
The bill has been deemed ‘deceitful’ and ‘unacceptable’ by the Iranian Teachers Coordination Council, who warned the regime in a statement that the Iranian teacher community will resume protests unless the regime approves the full ranking plan, and releases teachers who have been imprisoned during the previous rallies.
The MEK said, “According to the bill, a total of 250 trillion rials will be allocated to around 734,000 teachers across Iran in the coming Persian year, starting in March 2022. But it doesn’t take into account the tens of thousands of tutors who are working on unofficial contracts because the education ministry refuses to hire them despite having passed its test.”
One drawback of the bill is that it states that the budget will only be allocated if the necessary funds can be gathered by the government. Considering that the government is already drowning under severe budget deficits, and has no plans in place to cover those deficits, it remains questionable as to whether the bill will be able to make a difference to the teachers across Iran.
