Iran announced on Thursday June 16 that it had arrested a suspected Marxist activist linked to two French trade unionists detained since May 11 by the Iranian authorities.
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“Marxist leftist whose mission was to incite sedition and labor unrest arrested as he prepared to flee the country“said state television, without disclosing his identity or the date of his arrest. “During a meeting with two French spies before Labor Day, the detainee had coordinated his actions with themadded the same source. Cécile Kohler, a leader of the Fnec FP-FO teachers’ union, was arrested, along with her husband Jacques Paris, while they were sightseeing in Iran during the Easter holidays, according to a French union source.
Tehran had announced on May 11 the arrest of two Europeansentered the country with the aim of unleashing chaos and destabilizing society“. France denounced an arrest “unfoundedand asked their “immediate release“. According to television, the Marxist militant had the mission of “combine workers’ and teachers’ rallies to turn them into riots across the country“. He was arrested by the intelligence service of West Azerbaijan (northwest), a province on the border with Turkey, the television said.
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For months, teachers have been calling for reforms including an increase in their salaries and also calling for the release of their colleagues arrested during previous mobilizations. Iranian education union leader Rasoul Bodaghi was sentenced to five years in prison in April, according to a human rights organization. In May, hundreds of people had demonstrated in several cities of the country including Tehran, after a series of measures announced by the government, in particular the lifting of subsidies on flour and the increase in the prices of certain foodstuffs.