An Iranian newspaper reported on February 20 that teachers had demonstrated this weekend in more than 100 cities to protest delays in salary and pension reforms.
The swarm of protests comes on top of rallies in recent months by teachers and other public-sector workers as they try to cope with soaring inflation.
The breadth of the teacher protests appears to have widened considerably since reports a month ago, despite arrests.
A pro-reform newspaper, Etemad, reported that teacher demonstrations included a gathering outside the parliament building in Tehran and the Education Ministry offices in provincial capitals including Isfahan, Shiraz, and Mashhad, AFP reported.
Teachers have been pushing for salary adjustments that reflect their abilities, and better labor conditions overall.
Iran's hard-line authorities have routinely met previous eruptions of public anger with violence, including shootings and mass arrests.
In protests over the high cost of living in 2017, over gasoline prices in 2019, and over water shortages in 2021, Iranians increasingly focused their anger on Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and the clerically dominated system.
Civil servants, including from the judiciary, last month demonstrated for higher pay.
The February 19 demonstrations included calls for the freeing of teachers arrested over recent protests.
Iranian lawmakers have pledged that a new system will be implemented in late March, after the Persian New Year.
