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As the people of Iran continue to suffer repression at the hands of the regime and the devastation caused by an unjust war, Iranian teachers and trade unionists are calling for international solidarity.

Follow the latest from Iran's education trade union community below!

2 May | Message from our Iranian members on their National Teachers' Day

Dear Comrades,

This year’s Teachers’ Day in Iran arrives in the aftermath of one of the most painful and repressive periods the country’s educational community has endured. It has been a year marked by killings, arrests, systematic repression, and profound loss. We have lost colleagues and students—some killed during popular protests by state forces, and others who lost their lives in the shadow of war and the interventions of foreign powers. Their places in classrooms now remain permanently empty.

Many teachers, instead of standing before blackboards, have faced summons, interrogations, imprisonment, and relentless security pressures. Students who should have been learning in safety have lost their lives both in street crackdowns and under the shadow of war and missile attacks. Among these tragedies is the devastating incident at Minab Primary School, following U.S. military strikes, which once again exposed how children’s lives and futures are sacrificed in struggles for power.

Teacherless classrooms, empty chairs, abandoned schoolbags, and unmarked graves stand as living evidence of violence inflicted upon a generation whose right to live and to learn has been simultaneously targeted. Among these losses, teachers, too, have been killed.

As part of this ongoing repression, a number of teacher trade union activists remain imprisoned without any clear information about their condition. Among them are Reza Amanifar, Inspector of the Coordinating Council of Iranian Teachers’ Trade Associations (CCITTA) and a board member of the Teachers’ Trade Association in Bushehr, and Asghar Hajeb, a trade union activist and board member of the Bushehr Teachers’ Association. They, along with several other teachers, remain in prison, and serious concerns persist regarding their situation.

At the same time, education has long been shifting from a universal public right into a class-based privilege, and the tragedies of the past year have intensified this destructive trajectory. Yet, despite this immense suffering, education endures. Classrooms—though increasingly empty—and schools—though more brutally stratified—continue to breathe through hope and resistance. The voices of teachers have not been silenced; they continue to resonate in defense of human dignity and justice, insisting on the right to free, equal, and humane education.

The Coordinating Council of Iranian Teachers’ Trade Associations honors Teachers’ Day and extends its greetings to all courageous teachers—those who, in the heart of darkness, keep the light of knowledge, equality, and liberation alive. As we pass through one of the darkest periods in our recent history, and as hope for the future is under relentless attack, the responsibility of true educators is to sustain belief in free and just futures. Teachers’ Day is a moment to renew this commitment—to defend those futures and to struggle to achieve them.

Call for International Solidarity

We call on education unions, international organizations, labor movements, and all defenders of education as a public good across the world to stand in solidarity with teachers and students in Iran. Silence in the face of repression only enables its continuation.

We urge active support for the demands of Iranian teachers, including the immediate and unconditional release of Reza Amanifar, Asghar Hajeb, and all imprisoned educators, an end to the securitization of education, and the guarantee of free, equal, and quality education for all.

Global solidarity is a necessity in defending education as a fundamental human right. Our struggle for educational justice is part of a broader global struggle for freedom, equality, and human dignity.

In solidarity,

Coordinating Council of Iranian Teachers’ Trade Associations (CCITTA)

13 April | Global Unions call for a permanent and sustainable ceasefire in the Middle East

Global Unions released a statement calling for a permanent and sustainable ceasefire across the Middle East and an immediate end to the relentless cycle of war and militarism that continues to exact a devastating toll on civilians, workers, and entire communities.

2 April | EI members raise their voices in solidarity with teachers and students devastated by the war in the Middle East

Education International (EI) brought together education unionists from across the globe for a solidarity webinar with member organisations impacted by the war in the Middle East. During the online gathering, which featured teachers and unionists directly impacted by the war, EI members reiterated a call for an immediate ceasefire, the protection of school communities and a commitment to peace in the region.

1 March | Statement: EI condemns military strikes on Iran and attacks on schools

Education International (EI) unequivocally condemned the recent United States and Israeli military strikes on Iran, including the bombing of the Shajare Tayyiba elementary school for girls in the southern Iranian town of Minab that killed at least 150 people, mainly schoolchildren and teachers, and injured around 100 others.

EI echoed the urgent call from its affiliate, the Coordinating Council of Iranian Teachers Trade Associations (CCITTA), for the immediate cessation of all actions that place civilians at risk, and for the unwavering protection of schools as safe spaces for learning.

Read the full statement here.

1 March | Teacher union leader released on bail

Khan Aziz Esmaili, a member of the executive board of the Teachers’ Trade Association of Islamabad-Gharb and also a member of the CCITTA, has been released on bail.

23 February | New arrests of teacher trade unionists

• Mohammad Sedighi-Pour, a member of the Gilan Teachers’ Trade Association, was arrested on February 18. Security forces raided his workplace and detained him before transferring him to an unknown location. Since then, no information about his whereabouts or condition has been provided.
• Khan Aziz Esmaili, a member of the executive board of the Teachers’ Trade Association of Islamabad-Gharb and also a member of the CCITTA, was arrested on February 23. Security forces raided his home, detained him, and transferred him to an undisclosed location. During the raid, the mobile phones of his family members were also confiscated.

17 February | National School Strike and International Digital Action on X (formerly Twitter) for Killed Students and Teachers

The Coordinating Council of Iranian Teacher Trade Associations (CCITTA) has issued two urgent calls following the killing of more than 230 children and adolescents, alongside teachers, during the recent wave of repression in Iran. These figures are based on independently verified cases collected under highly restrictive conditions and therefore represent the minimum number confirmed.

On February 18th, 2026, CCITTA calls for a National Day of Mourning and School Strike in Iran. It urges teachers not to go to schools and administrative offices and parents to keep their children home in solidarity and for protection. Communities are urged to participate in memorial gatherings for the killed.

This action affirms a fundamental principle: the rights to life and to safe education are non-negotiable.

On the international level, EI supports CCITTA’s call for a coordinated digital campaign on X (formerly Twitter) on February 19th, 2026, at 18:30 Central European Time (CET); 12:30 PM Eastern Time (ET).

Teachers’ unions and education federations worldwide are urged to:

• Amplify the digital campaign through official platforms.
• Increase the safety of Iranian students and educators within international education and labor forums.
• Call for accountability and protection of children’s rights to life and to safe schooling.

Hashtags to be used are: #Empty_Desks and #Classes_Without_Teachers

The education union stated: “Defending schools means defending the future. Silence enables normalization. Solidarity creates protection.”

With CCITTA, Education International (EI) reiterates that: “Each child killed leaves behind an empty desk. Each empty desk is a life interrupted and a future denied. Schools must be places of safety. When students and educators are targeted, the foundation of education itself is under threat.”

Project Empty Desks: "We refuse to let their memories be buried."

The Coordinating Council of Iranian Teacher Trade Associations (CCITTA) has now documented the name of over 200 students killed during the brutal crackdown in Iran.

The education union denounced the continued pressure from the authorities on the mourning families to remain silent, stating: "We refuse to let their memories be buried. These desks remain empty as silent witnesses to a generation denied the right to grow up."

The CCITTA called on the international community to investigate the violent killings of children and civilians and to hold those responsible to account.

Project Empty Desks : "Nowhere in the world is the answer to a student's 'slogan' a bullet."

Mohammad Habibi, the spokesperson for the Coordinating Council of Iranian Teacher Trade Associations (CCITTA), has announced that the number of students killed in recent protests has surpassed "160 individuals."

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), he wrote: "This number means that, so far, at least five full classrooms have been massacred. Nowhere in the world is the answer to a student's 'slogan' a bullet."

Under a project titled "Empty Desks," the spokesperson has published the names of 150 students as of February 3rd who were killed during the violent crackdown by Islamic Republic authorities in January.

The Council states that it has published the names and images of these children based on reports from reliable networks and credible sources, and continues to update the list as more information becomes available.

Education International joins call to the UN Human Rights Council on Iran

In January, EI joined 63 other civil society organisations in urging the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) to convene a special session on the atrocities committed against protesters in Iran.

The joint call also asks the HRC to renew the mandates of both the Fact-Finding Mission on Iran (FFMI) and the Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, and to instruct the FFMI to produce a full investigative report.

EI and its Iranian affiliate CCITTA have already provided extensive documentation to the FFMI on the teacher and student casualties of 8 and 9 January 2026.

At least 152 children and nine teachers killed

The widespread internet shutdowns and communication blackouts make it impossible to fully document the mass killing of civilians that happened in Iran on 8 and 9 January. It is however confirmed that at least 152 children and nine teachers, including two female teachers, lost their lives.

Hundreds of children and at least thirteen teacher union activists are still detained, including Abdullah Rezaei, CCITTA board member and general secretary of the Teachers’ Trade Association of Harsin, in Kermanshah Province. Arrested teacher unionists are being subjected to torture, forced confessions, and trials without access to legal counsel.

30 January | Update on the crackdown on teacher unionists

The CCITTA shared an updated list of teacher unionists and activists arrested or killed during the violent crackdown.

Teachers and education activists who have lost their lives:

• Alireza Ansari-Far – Teacher from Marlik
• Amir Sattari Rad – Teacher
• Bahram Akhlaghi – Teacher
• Fatemeh Poursadeghi – Female teacher
• Kamran Akbari – Teacher from Eslamabad-e Gharb
• Karamali Alaei – Retired teacher from Khomeini Shahr
• Mandana Golestani Nejad – Female teacher
• Parsa Abbaspour – Student teacher, Farhangian University
• Reza Karimi-Far – Retired teacher from Chalus

Teachers and education activists arrested:

• Abdollah Rezaei – CCITTA board member and the general secretary of the Teachers’ Trade Association of Harsin – Arrested on 8 January
• Hossein Ramazanpour – Teacher activist, North Khorasan – Arrested on 9 January
• Reza Moslemi – Teacher activist, Hamedan – Arrested on 9 January
• Ahmad Alizadeh – Teacher activist, Abdanan, Ilam – Arrested on 28 January
• Arman Shapouri – Teacher, Izeh – Arrested on 1 January
• Shervin Hamideh – Teacher, Karaj – Arrested on 2 January
• Jalil Shirdel – Retired teacher, Babol – Arrested on 4 January
• Esmaeil Khodayari – Teacher, Qazvin – Arrested on 4 January
• Kiumars Vaezi – Retired teacher, Sonqor – Arrested on 5 January
• Mohsen Shabani – Physics teacher & photographer, Qazvin – Arrested on 9 January
• Mehdi Nazari – Teacher, Nourabad-e Delfan
• Arash Nikkhoo – Teacher, Illam
• Ali Imani Motlagh – Teacher, Lorestan – Arrested on 28 January

19 January | Shokrolah Ahmadi released

Shokrolah Ahmadi, one of the two CCITTA members arrested last week, was released on Monday 19 January.

14 January | Crackdown on education unionists

EI member organisation the Coordinating Council of Iranian Teacher Trade Associations (CCITTA) has announced that two of its members have been arrested.

Abdulah Rezaei, CCITTA Board Member and the General Secretary of the Teachers’ Trade Association of Harsin, Kermanshah Province, and Shokrolah Ahmadi, CCITTA Inspector and Member of the Board of Directors of the Teachers’ Trade Association of Fars province have been detained.

Education International calls for their immediate release!

14 January | Watch the testimony of Shiva Amelirad, CCITTA Director of international affairs

13 January | Education International statement

Click here to read the Education International statement calling for an end to violent crackdowns and the protection of education communities in Iran.

Esmail Abdi's story: Imprisoned for years for defending teachers' rights

For years, education unions everywhere have been advocating for our colleagues in Iran, for their rights and freedom.

In this video, we hear directly from Esmail Abdi, a teacher and trade union leader who spent years in prison as a result of his principled advocacy for education, teachers’ rights, and the rights of students.

Arrested on his way to an Education International World Congress, Esmail was eventually freed thanks to the relentless advocacy and solidarity of his colleagues from across the world.