The strikes and sit-ins of teachers as well as protests by other social sectors continued in recent days across Iran. Following the call issued by the Teachers’ Coordination Council, Iranian teachers held strikes and sit-ins on Tuesday, November 13, and continued on Wednesday, November 14. The strikes and sit-ins were held despite various forms of threats and harassment by the regime’s repressive organs and forces and the summoning and arrests of a number of teacher activists. The second day of the second round of strikes and sit-ins of teachers took place in more than 40 cities including Tehran, Isfahan, Shiraz, Tabriz, Ahvaz, Mashhad, Yazd, Kermanshah, Ilam, Hamedan, Ardebil, Jolfa, Babol, Sari, Noshahr, Langrood, Karaj, Shahriar, Shahr-e Ray, Saveh, Sanandaj, Baneh, Saqqez, Marivan, Ivan-e Gharb, Sirvan, Chaboksar, Kazerun, Lamerd, Homayounshahr, Jam, Asaluyeh, Bushehr, Qazvin, Zanjan, Shahr-e Kord, and Charmahal-e Bakhtiari.

The strikes of the workers of Sugar cane factory of Haft Tape and Ahwaz Steel factory continued to Sunday as well. Two workers rep Ismaeil Bakhsi and Mosolem Armand were arrested by riot forces and a number of workers were beaten. The strike continues despite these measures.

The strike and sit-in of teachers were held in protest against the arrest and suppression of teachers, their dire living conditions, unbridled inflation and their dwindling purchasing power. They also demanded the elimination of discrimination against employed and retired teachers and educators.

In some cities, students and their parents joined the teachers in solidarity.

In other news, a group of housewives in Mashhad took to the street in protest to water cut off and blocked the road on Tuesday, November 13.

On the same day, professors of Farabi Medical Sciences University in Kermanshah refused to hold classes in protest to the horrific conditions of education. The university’s students also held a protest on campus from 11 a.m. until 6 p.m., demanding freedom of speech and revoking tuition fees for education.

On Monday, November 12, depositors of the Alborz Nahalneshan Development Institute in Karaj held a protest rally outside the Central Bank in Tehran to protest swindling of their money and properties. The presence of women in this gathering was substantial. The State Security Force (SFF) and anti-riot troops attempted to disperse and prevent the gathering of the defrauded depositors, but faced staunch resistance by protesters and failed to make any arrests.

On the same day, the residents of Vanak Village in Tehran held a protest rally against the demolition of their houses. Residents of the Vanak Village gathered at the site of one of the demolished houses in the periphery of Az-Zahra University.

SSF agents, municipality workers, and the traffic police had surrounded the Vanak Village since 5:00 a.m. to demolish the houses confiscated by Az-Zahra University.

The residents of these houses and their supporters gathered under the rain at 7 a.m. outside Az-Zahra University, and held up banners to protest such an inhuman measure.

Also on November 12, employees of the Khomeini Hospital in Karaj held another protest. They have not received their salaries for 12 months.

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Iranian Married women must have their husbands’ permission, and single women as well as young women under 20 years of age must have their fathers’ permission before they can participate in any hiking or nature tours. 

The official IRNA news agency reported on Tuesday, November 13, that the directive of Hiking Board of Razavi Khorassan Province had issued a statement on November 4, , to hiking clubs. The directive reads in part, “The so-called sports activities which are increasingly spreading under the pretext of nature tours, hiking, etc. in mixed-gender groups and are planned as illegitimate sources of income promote moral promiscuity, unveiling of women, spread of shamelessness and liberalism, and lead to immoral and illicit relations among women and men, targeting the genuine culture and roots of Iran, Islam and the foundations of the family.”

The second paragraph of this directive reads, “To observe article 1105 of the Civil Code as well as the religious decrees of religious scholars, and to protect the foundation and bases of families, it is going to be required that married women have their husband’s permission and single women and young women under 20 must have their father’s permission to participate (in such activities).”

Misogyny is institutionalized in the clerical regime’s laws in Iran. The regime's Civil Code depicts women as men’s captives or sex slaves. Specifically, a nine-year-old girl can be forced into marriage on her father’s order, and she must live anywhere her “husband” wants and cannot leave home, go to work or travel without his permission. Article 1105 of the Iranian regime’s Civil Code stipulates, “The family is headed by the husband and the woman may not leave home without the husband’s permission.”

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Sharareh Almassi a 27 years old young woman 27was hanged on Tuesday, November 13, in the Central Prison of Sanandaj in Iran after five years of imprisonment. She was arrested and jailed five years a go for allegedly killing her husband, Kaveh Gholam Veissi during a family dispute.

A group of civil and human rights activists and campaigners against the death penalty gathered outside the Central Prison of Sanandaj since 4 A.m. to prevent execution of Sharareh Almassi. Sharareh Almassi is the 85th woman who is executed under Hassan Rouhani, the Iranian regime’s president.

Last month, another young woman, Zeinab Sekaanvand was hanged in the Central Prison of Urmia.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet issued a statement on October 5, 2018, condemning the execution of Zeinab Sekaanvand, in which she stressed that the UN Human Rights Office opposes the use of the death penalty in all circumstances, as no judiciary in any part of the world is mistake-free.

The death penalty violates the most fundamental human rights, the right to life and the right to freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. The death penalty is also considered discriminatory as it is often used against the most vulnerable in society, including the poor, ethnic and religious minorities, and people with mental disabilities.

Execution is a tool which helps the Iranian regime to hold its grab on power. Over 3,600 people have been executed over the past five years under Hassan Rouhani. In the same period, 85 women have been executed.

Iran is the world’s leading per Capita executioner. It also holds the record in the execution of women and minors. Among the reasons that lead to the execution of women are early forced marriages, being deprived of the right to divorce, domestic violence against women, and poverty.