António Guterres

Secretary-General

United Nations

c/o Stéphane Dujarric

Spokesman for the Secretary-General

By email: dujarric@un.org

Dear Secretary General,

NEU Support for Teachers’ Strikes and Protests in Iran

The Iranian government has not yet responded to the demands of four series of nationwide protests and strikes by teachers and retirees over the past four months in more than two hundred cities.  Instead, they continue to arrest, repress, and imprison protestors and teachers.

Iranian teachers and educators are living in catastrophic conditions. They have stated that they have no hope for the baseless promises of Raisi’s government and the entire regime.

The National Education Union supports the teachers’ protests and demands the following items of teachers’ statement:

1. Stop the repression, arrests, and dismissals of active teachers and union activists
2. Release of teachers who have been imprisoned
3. Implementation of the complete Teacher Ranking and Equalisation bill
4. Hiring the contract teachers in educational services
5. Recognition of teachers’ right to hold free protests without repression, arrest, or intimidation.

We call for immediate action by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN Human Rights Council and relevant rapporteurs and international human rights organisations to address the situation of teachers in Iran.

Yours sincerely

Mary Bousted                                                         Kevin Courtney

Joint General Secretary                                        Joint General Secretary