Thousands of teachers took part in new demonstrations in more than 100 Iranian cities on Saturday once morest the slow implementation of wage and pension reforms, local media reported on Sunday.
Saw the past weeks A series of protests from different professional sectors In Iran, once morest a background of living, in light of a stifling economic crisis facing the country.
In its issue issued on Sunday, the reformist newspaper “Etimad” pointed out that Thousands of teachers participate in gatherings In front of the Shura Council (Parliament) headquarters in Tehran, the departments of the Ministry of Education in the capital and several cities such as Isfahan, Shiraz and Mashhad.
Teachers have been calling for weeks to speed up the implementation of salary and wage reforms that take into account their experience and place them on a level parallel to employees in other sectors.
Last week, parliament indicated that the new salary system, which has been delayed for more than a year, will be implemented from the new year in Iran, which begins on March 21.
“Etimad” indicated that the protesting teachers demanded By releasing colleagues who were arrested In previous protests, they chanted slogans, including “From Tehran to Khorasan (northeast), teachers are in prison.”
It quoted protesting teachers as saying that regarding 15 of them were arrested on Saturday.
Iran has been witnessing a severe economic and living crisis for years, exacerbated by US sanctions, which have reflected a decline in the currency exchange rate and an increase in inflation. The World Bank estimated the inflation rate in Iran at 43% between April and November 2021.
Last January, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei criticized some “wrong” economic decisions taken by the government during the past decade, considering that they were a reason for achieving “unsatisfactory” economic indicators.