IRANIAN teachers warned they had reached a crisis point as they demanded the release of trade unionists detained during strike action and protests over wages, terms and conditions today.

Co-ordinating Council of Iranian Teachers’ Trade Associations (CCITTA) spokesman Mohammad Habibi condemned the arrest of Ahmad Heidari and others in front of the parliament building in the capital Tehran.

Three teachers, Mohammad Ali Zahmatkesh, Asghar Amirzadegan and Ghahraman Kiani, were also held following protests in Shiraz on Monday, he said.

And the Hengaw human rights organisation reported that leading member of the Kurdistan Teachers’ Guild Jabbar Doosti had been arrested in Marivan in Kurdistan province.

On Sunday, security forces also arrested Shabaan Mohammadi following a raid on his home by intelligence and security forces, according to the Marivan Teachers’ Trade Association, which added that the union activist had been transferred to an unknown location.

The detentions took place after a two-day sit-in protest in which teachers refused to take classes or online lessons, part of a long-running dispute over the government’s failure to implement the outcome of a national job review that would boost wages.

In December the Iranian parliament guaranteed teachers would earn about 80 per cent of the salaries of university faculty members — one of the protesters’ demands. But retirees also want their pensions to be aligned with the salaries of working teachers as soon as possible.

The union says that many of the country’s teachers have been reduced to poverty as the value of the currency continues to plummet and US sanctions continue to bite.

It said the situation had reached a “crisis point,” accusing the Iranian parliament of acting in the interests of the government and the judiciary silencing all dissenting voices instead of supporting the legitimate demands of the teachers.

Rallies have taken place in some 250 towns and cities across the country over the last few months, the biggest wave of action seen in Iran for a number of years, and the CCITTA  has promised further strike action if its demands are not met.

“The arrest and pressure on trade union activists, which is aimed at stopping the sit-ins and rallies, is actually having the opposite effect,” Mr Habibi said, adding that nationwide participation in the protests is growing.

He demanded the release of all those held during the protests and for the right for teachers to be able to join and be active in their own free trade unions.