Eight Iranian teachers have been put on trial at the Islamic Revolutionary Court in the southern city of Shiraz for participating in union protests, part of a plan, the Iranian Teachers' Union's Coordination Council says, aimed at pressuring on educators unhappy with working conditions.
Ramin Safarnia, a judiciary lawyer, identified the eight protesting teachers on trial as Iraj Rahnama, Mojgan Bagheri, Zahra Esfandiari, Gholamreza Gholami, Mohammad Ali Zahmatkesh, Asghar Amirzadegan, Afshin Razmjoo, and Abdolreza Amiri. They face charges of assembly and collusion against the national security.
Safarnia added that he, another lawyer, and the protesting teachers have presented their defense at the court hearing.
The teachers were among those detained by the Islamic republic's security forces following several widespread protest gatherings in front of the Fars Province Department of Education last year. They were later released on bail pending trial.
Meanwhile, Asghar Amirzadegan, who previously had been arrested twice for his union activities, was summoned to the judiciary of Firoozabad city and transferred to prison to serve a previously suspended sentence.
In a statement released on June 11, the Iranian Teachers' Union's Coordination Council condemned the security and judicial confrontations with teachers. It also expressed disappointment that whenever the shortcomings of the country's educational system are outlined to officials, teachers are subjected to various forms of harassment by security agencies.
Unrest -- including several protests by teachers -- has rattled Iran since last summer in response to declining living standards, wage arrears, and a lack of welfare support. Labor law in Iran does not recognize the right of workers to form independent unions.
The death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in police custody in September for allegedly wearing a head scarf improperly breathed new life into the unrest, which officials across the country have tried to quell with harsh -- and sometimes deadly -- measures.
The activist HRANA news agency says that more than 500 people have been killed during the unrest, including 71 minors, as security forces try to stifle widespread dissent.
Thousands have been arrested in the clampdown, with the judiciary handing down harsh sentences -- including the death penalty -- to protesters.