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Iranian teachers warn of jail threat – BBC

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A teachers’ union leader in Iran has warned of an intensifying campaign of harassment and imprisonment by the Iranian regime against teachers’ union representatives.

Hashem Khastar, from Mashhad in north-east Iran, has told the BBC there have been hunger strikes staged by teachers in protest against jailings and the denial of human rights.

Mr. Khastar, from the teachers’ union in Khorasan Razavi province, says he has been jailed three times, the BBC said in its report published on Tuesday, May 24.

He says this followed his defense of the right of teachers to belong to an independent union and that he was jailed for “trying to bring out the voice of the innocent teachers of Iran.”

“The teachers want, through this teachers’ movement, to achieve democracy,” he told the BBC.

Speaking out about the threats to teachers, Mr. Khastar says he remains aware of the risks and is “always prepared for the doorbell to ring and for someone to come and take me to prison.”

“If it wasn’t for the support of many teachers, they would have got rid of me.”

He says teachers have been secretly rallying to help their imprisoned colleagues by doing things like raising funds to support their families.

The problems are also being highlighted by Education International, an international representative group for education unions.

“We know a range of people have been arrested,” said the organization’s deputy general secretary, Haldis Holst.

The international body had invited a Tehran teachers’ union representative to talk at a conference earlier this year, but she told the BBC that teacher had been arrested and detained.

Mr. Khastar says that despite Iran’s growing international links with the West – and signals of a growing economic openness – the situation for teachers’ unions was not improving.

He says there are no signs of moderation over the rights for his union members.

“There is a big rift between the government and clerical authorities – but the goal of both factions is to save the regime in its entirety,” he said.

And he says that as the regime came under more pressure, it was increasing its repression.

“They want one leader – one person is a shepherd and everyone else the sheep. In this system, the people must follow without questioning.”

Mr. Khastar says teachers are being “constantly arrested,” but on many occasions their union organizations only find out later.

He says security services are putting pressure on teachers’ families not to publicize what has happened.

But he says teachers are still campaigning to be allowed to carry out their union activities and to promote civil liberties “free of security interference.”

“We want the regime to allow teachers to carry out their activities as is their right.”

And he believes there is widespread support for their cause. “The Iranian nation has changed,” he says.

The UK’s Trades Union Congress has called on the Iranian regime to respect the rights of teachers and criticized the imprisonment of their leaders.

They have highlighted teachers’ protests against “poverty wages,” poor living conditions and the lack of job security.