Iran Crushes Teachers ' Protest

Guardian: The authorities in Iran have arrested up to 1,000 teachers in a brutal crackdown that signals their determination to break a pay revolt. Riot police beat demonstrators with batons as they tried to gather outside Iran's parliament and education ministry and herded them into police vans and buses before transporting them to detention centres across Tehran.

Around 150 of those arrested in Wednesday's protest are still in custody, with the ringleaders believed to be in the capital's notorious Evin prison. Others were released after signing a commitment not to participate in "illegal" demonstrations.

The clampdown follows recent rallies outside parliament, which drew up to 10,000 demonstrators, many of whom displayed banners criticising President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government as part of their campaign for higher pay. An average university-educated secondary-school teacher earns £160-180 a month, below the poverty line and much less than workers in other government sectors.

Last week, police arrested six teachers' union leaders in an unsuccessful attempt to stop a gathering that coincided with a planned women's rights demonstration

Update1: During the final hours of yesterday, came the news that intelligence agents attacked the homes of cultural activists and arrested 5 of them, taking them to an undisclosed destination.

This attack began at about 11pm last night and continued until four in the morning, Tehran time. The names of those arrested in as follows:

1-Ali Akbar Baghani, Secretary General of the Kanoon Senfi-e Moaleman (Teachers Professional Association)
2-Mahmud Beheshti Langaroodi, spokesperson for the Association
3-Alierza Hashemi, Secretary General of the Teachers Association
4-Mohamd Davarai, member of the central committee of the Teachers Association
5-Ali Poor-Soleiman, member of the central committee of the Teachers Association

Those knowledgeable in the events said that some 20 individuals had been arrested, among whom were activists of the professional organization in the provinces, and towns across Iran. Some of these activists were on their way to Tehran to participate in the peaceful demonstrations that were to be held the next day in front of the Parliament buildings.