Thousands of teachers protest outside Iran parliament

Iran Focus

03 Mar 2007

Tehran, Iran – Thousands of teachers took to the streets outside the Iranian Majlis, or Parliament, on Saturday in an anti-government protest despite preventative measures by state security forces.

The protestors complained of rampant corruption and mismanagement in the Education Ministry and demanded their overdue salaries.

The demonstrators, some of whom held Farsi and English banners, chanted slogans including, “Oh teachers rise to end discrimination”, “If our troubles are not resolved, schools will be shut down”, and “We will not stay calm until we get our rights”.

They also called for the resignation of Iran’s Education Minister, chanting, “Incompetent minister, resign, resign”.

At one point the teachers began to chant “Come out Haddad, come out”, referring to Majlis Speaker Gholam-Hossein Haddad-Adel who has been accused of turning a blind eye to economic mismanagement by the hard-line government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Minutes after the protest began, a large number of agents of the state security forces swarmed around the Majlis building and prevented people in the vicinity from joining the protestors.