More than 200 teachers were arrested on Wednesday during a demonstration in the Iranian capital, Tehran, an opposition group in exile has claimed. According to interior ministry spokesman Hossein Ali Amiri, “The detainees wanted to create an atmosphere of insecurity during the rally.”
The official told local media that some were arrested for a few hours and then given lunch and freed. “However, three or four who wanted to turn the gathering into a security issue are still in detention,” he added.
The Paris-based National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) said that Wednesday’s demonstration near the parliament building brought together nearly 2,000 teachers from across Iran to demand the release of their jailed colleagues. Amiri did not give any figures for the number of demonstrators, but the East reformist newspaper described them simply as a “group of teachers”.
“Protesters had gathered demanding the release of political activists such as Esmael Abdi, the head of the teachers’ union, who are imprisoned for their defence of teachers’ rights,” said the NCRI. “The suppressive forces employed various tactics to disperse the teachers, including attacks on the gathering… However, the freedom-loving teachers fought [them] off and reformed.”
NCRI is a coalition of Iranian opposition groups, including the popular People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran, which was removed from the US list of designated terror groups in 2012 and a similar EU list in 2009.
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