The Appeals Board for Administrative Violations at Iran’s Ministry of Education has issued disciplinary rulings against seven members of the Sanandaj Teachers’ Union. Among those sentenced are two women teachers subjected to severe administrative penalties.
According to the final verdicts, Nasrin Karimi (with a master’s degree in sociology and 27 years of service) has been forced into forced retirement with a demotion of two professional ranks. Leila Zarei (with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and 30 years of service) has been dismissed from her position as vice-principal, forced into retirement, and demoted by one rank.
Other union members — Majid Karimi, Ghias Nemati, Salah Hajimirzaei, Faisal Nouri, and Mohyeddin Reyhani — have received sentences ranging from temporary dismissal and expulsion from service to forced relocation and professional restrictions.
Union sources state that these rulings are a direct response to the May 2024 union elections and subsequent labor activities by the teachers.
In a statement, the Kurdistan Teachers’ Union condemned the decisions as “unjust and lacking independence,” stressing that such measures reflect the government’s disregard for the legitimate demands of both teachers and students.
These pressures come in the wake of earlier punitive actions in 2024, when the Preliminary Board for Administrative Violations in Kurdistan had already barred the same teachers from entering educational institutions for three months and cut over 70 percent of their salaries.
