In response to court rulings by Iran’s repressive judiciary against two Kurdish teachers, a group of educators from Saqqez and Sanandaj visited the homes of Shahram Karimi, a teacher from Zivieh, and his brother Majid Karimi, a teacher in Sanandaj, to express solidarity and demand the annulment of the verdicts and their reinstatement in schools.
According to the court’s decision, Shahram Karimi was suspended from service for six months due to union activities, while his brother Majid Karimi was permanently dismissed from the education system. The show of support was endorsed by the Teachers’ Union of Saqqez and Zivieh as well as the Coordinating Council of Iranian Teachers’ Trade Associations.
Earlier, on Friday, August 29, hundreds of residents of Sanandaj gathered at the Abidar hiking route at the call of the People’s Committee in Support of Dismissed Kurdish Teachers. Participants carried placards and chanted slogans denouncing the expulsions, suspensions, and forced transfers of Kurdish teachers, demanding their immediate reversal.
Kurdish teachers are facing a wave of administrative and judicial repression. A clear example came in late August 2025, when the Ministry of Education’s Disciplinary Board, in coordination with the Review Committee, upheld heavy sentences against at least 14 Kurdish teachers—including dismissal, permanent suspension, forced retirement with demotion, and exile to other provinces. These rulings intensified after the May 2024 elections of the Kurdistan Teachers’ Union.
Teachers active in defending the right to mother-tongue education or in union advocacy have also faced accusations such as links to political groups, “disturbing public order,” or supporting protests. Many have been subjected to security harassment, temporary detention, dismissal from jobs, and loss of benefits.
Over the past decades, Kurdish teachers have become one of the most important voices of awareness and resistance against the fascism and state terrorism of the Islamic Republic. Beyond the classroom, where they nurture critical thinking, mother-tongue education, and social consciousness among the youth, they have also stood at the forefront of union protests demanding social justice and civil rights. Their role goes far beyond teaching; by exposing structural discrimination, corruption, and repression, they have shown that education can be transformed into a weapon against tyranny.
According to many observers, Kurdish teachers—by linking union and civil struggles with the broader fight for freedom—are guiding society toward collective awareness and resilience in the face of the Islamic Republic’s repressive and terror-driven policies.
Report by Shahram Mirzaei
