Iran International
The Iranian intelligence minister on Thursday accused detained members of a teachers’ union of “contact with terrorist groups” and “spies residing abroad.”
“There is reliable information that some members of the said illegal groups had connection with known terrorist groups and certain spies who reside abroad and have been identified,” Esmail Khatib told a national gathering of prosecutors in reference to the arrest of some members of the Teachers Association.
The association has organized regular nationwide protests and strikes for better wages and working conditions as well as freedom for their colleagues arrested during the past year. The association recently said in a statement that the teachers' movement would not be subdued by security and judicial crackdowns on union activists.
Last week Iran's Intelligence Ministry announced the detention of two European nationals who have now been identified as French citizens Cécile Kohler, the head of the biggest federations of teachers' unions in France, and her partner Jacques Paris. The couple travelled to Iran as tourists and were arrested a few days later on their way to the airport.
Kohler is the head of the National Federation of Education, Culture and Vocational Training (FNEC FP-FO), a trade union representing education and related staff in France. Her partner Paris is also a member of the same union.
The French couple’s trip to Iran coincided with intensification of Iran’s crackdown on teachers’ protests and union activists over their latest round of widespread rallies which were held on May 1, the international Labor Day. The couple met with some members of the Coordination Council of Iranian Teachers’ Trade Unions (CCITTU) during their stay.
Iran's state television on Tuesday showed a 3-minute report on the recent arrest of the French couple, saying they were “spies” who "intended to foment unrest in Iran by organizing trade union protests".
Khatib said the two French nationals had come to Iran to create organizational connections between “illegal agitator groups (unions) … to fulfil the goals of [outlawed political] groups and [foreign] intelligence services under the guise of unions.”
In a statement Thursday, Defenders of Human Rights Center led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi, condemned the French couple’s arrest and what it called Iran’s security forces “script” to suppress the teachers’ and workers’ protest movement by creating an atmosphere of fear. It underlined that contact with foreign nationals or labor unions is not a crime in any of the country’s current laws. “Depriving the nation from its fundamental freedoms with such unfounded and illegal accusations is clear proof of abuse of power,” the statement said.
Teachers’ Trade Association in a statement published Thursday said the CCITTU has been an official member of the FNEC FP-FO since it was formed and criticized the “script-writing” of security forces to use the meeting between the French teachers and their Iranian colleagues to crack down on their movement.
“The film [shown on the state television] intends to ascribe teachers’ protests to plots by western intelligence services to silence the justice-seeking voice of teachers,” the statement said while declaring that such scripts will only “result in the disgrace of those who write them.”
In the past few months people from different walks of life, including teachers, nurses, firefighters, and pensioners have held protestto demand better wages and pensions. On Monday bus drivers in the capital Tehran went on strike and Truck Owners and Drivers Union has also said they are planning a strike in the coming days.
Speaking with Sharq newspaper in Tehran, Reza Shahrestani, a member of Iran’s steel producers’ associationsaid that Iran’s steel exports have stopped in the past two months as China, Afghanistan, Thailand and South Korea, Iran’s biggest customers have shifted their orders to Russia. He emphasized that this development has deprived Iran of more than $5 billion in steel exports so far.
Shahrestani warned the same scenario is being repeated in case of other metals and could also endanger petrochemical exports, which provide larger export revenues.
Iranian media and analysts have voiced concern in recent weeks that following international sanctions against Moscow, Russian oil has become cheaper and specially China will be enticed to buy crude from Russia instead of Iran.
Despite United States sanctions on oil exports, Tehran has been able to boost crude shipments since the Biden Administration began nuclear talks with Tehran and less enforcement of Trump-era restrictions against third parties doing business with Iran.
Iranian officials have been taking credit for the increase in crude deliveries and revenues, although it is not clear how much foreign currency has found its way into Tehran’s coffers. Some say China is paying Iran with deliveries of merchandise and not cash, which would not be easy with US banking sanctions in place against Iran.
In the four years since former president Donald Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear agreement and imposed oil export sanctions, Iran has tried to compensate for loss of oil revenue by boosting non-crude exports of petrochemicals and steel. In the last 12 months, Iran’s non-oil exports have reached close to $50 billion.
Shahrestani told Sharq that Russia is offering discounts of 15-20 percent on its steel and already the impact on Iran’s traditional markets is clear. Russia is reportedly also offering a $20 per barrel discount on its crude, which on world markets has climbed above $110 a barrel.
Iran’s steel industry also faces internal hurdles according to Reza Mohtashamipur, an official in the ministry of industry and mines, who told state television last month that a 17-22 percent tax on steel exports hurts the industry. He argued that the tax makes Iranian steel less competitive on international markets. While Iran had offered 15 percent cheaper steel to foreign buyers, Russia is now offering more discounts.
Another impediment for steel producers, according to Shahrestani is lack of electricity in peak seasons. With the approach of hot summer months, electricity is usually rationed, and steel mills receive less energy, which impedes production.
Reduction in export revenues come at a sensitive time for Iran as it has stopped food import subsidies to save foreign currency, triggering a sudden jump in prices. Many analysts and former politicians have been warning of mass protests as millions of people face hunger. Already sporadic anti-government protests have been taking place in smaller cities and towns, but large cities have not erupted.