Leaders' closing remarks at the Biarritz G7 Summit highlighted that "Iran should never under circumstances be allowed to get a nuclear weapon."  The United States has been hoping its "maximum pressure" campaign will force Tehran to change its foreign policy in places from Lebanon to Syria to Yemen.

In Iran, hundreds of teachers and retired education workers in Tehran held a protest rally simultaneously at 8 A.M. Monday morning, Aug. 26, 2019, outside the regime's Labor Ministry.  The demonstrators held signs stating their demands that have been neglected by authorities.  They also held banners reading:

• Release jailed teachers
• Our enemy is right here, it's not the U.S. as they deceitfully say
• Teachers don't belong in prison
• Let go of Syria, think about us
• We demand the right to establish an independent organization and be recognized as one; the right to assembly, go on strike, and freedom of speech despite any security circumstances.  We also need to establish an organization for all the retirees in order for them to know their true representatives.

A group of teachers and retired education workers, mostly women, rallied in Enghelab (Revolution) Square in Isfahan, central Iran, on Monday, holding a protest gathering and stating their demands. 

In the second day of the demonstrations, Iranian security forces attacked the teachers with batons and pepper spray to disperse them and to prevent the protests from continuing.  The teachers were demanding the release of their imprisoned colleagues and improvements to their working conditions, including an increase in wages.

Teachers have a history of holding many protests and even nationwide strikes.

In the final week of December 2018, the teachers of Isfahan held demonstrations in front of the offices of the education ministry in protest to their deteriorating working conditions.

Perviz S. Khazai is a law graduate and former apprentice diplomat in the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in IIAP (ENA) Paris, in the United Nations in Geneva, in Red Cross International, in the Council of Europe in Strasbourg and International Court of Justice, and in The Hague 1969–1971.  He served as an international law expert of foreign affairs in Tehran 1976–1979.  He served as the head of the mission and acting ambassador in Norway and Sweden in 1979–1982.  He is now a representative of the NCRI in northern Europe.