UN experts alarmed by Iran’s ‘violent crackdown’ on protests

A group of independent UN rights experts express alarm over a “violent crackdown” on teachers and wider civil society in Iran, demanding that those responsible be held to account.

The experts, who are appointed by the United Nations but do not speak on its behalf, allege that more than 80 teachers have been arrested or summoned by the authorities in the Islamic Republic.

The reported arrests come amid repeated protests by teachers against working conditions and low wages, including one held on May 1 — International Workers’ Day — when they took to the streets of several cities, joined by transportation workers.

“We are alarmed at the recent escalation of arbitrary arrests of teachers, labor rights defenders and union leaders, lawyers, human rights defenders and other civil society actors,” the experts say in a UN statement. “The space for civil society and independent associations to carry out their legitimate work and activities is becoming impossibly narrow.”