Esmail Abdi
Esmail Abdi is the former General Secretary of the Tehran Teachers’ Trade Association in Iran. He was a mathematics teacher at a high school in Eslamshahr in the province of Tehran.
Esmail was arrested in July 2015 to prevent him from participating in the Education International World Congress in Canada. He was detained for nearly 10 years, often in inhumane conditions, for standing up for quality education for all and decent working and living conditions for teachers in Iran.
In 2025, international solidarity secured safe passage out of Iran for Esmail and his family.
Written by Esmail Abdi
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Democracy 28 April 2026 Education under siege: Oppression, war, and the dream of freedom
Esmail Abdi
A safe classroom, enough chairs for students to sit on, safe drinking water. A living wage, free and fair education for all. Not a lot to ask. But these are exactly the things Iranian teachers and students are denied. I am Esmail Abdi—a teacher, a father, and a former political...
Education under siege: Oppression, war, and the dream of freedom