“You bastards of Iranian history! By god, you shall be overthrown!” These were words of warning from a teacher in Shiraz, who participated in yet another wave of national protests in Iran (read our previous coverage here). Below, we publish the full text of the teacher’s speech, which reflects the rising anger of the Iranian working class.
Thousands of teachers and their supporters took to the streets on Thursday, 13 January, in over 100 cities across the nation. Once again, they voiced their long-neglected demands and concerns. The courageous words below, enthusiastically cheered on by the crowd, best reflect the fury and frustration of this layer of the Iranian working class, whose patience is at an end.
“We have all come here today. This is our classroom. We raise our voices in protest today, so that the freedom-loving people of the world can know that we are living in bondage to the ignoble bastards of Iranian history. My voice is the voice of a nation. My voice is the voice of the oppressed people of Iran. My voice is the voice of justice and truth.
“The troubles of a teacher are the troubles of the whole of society. All our troubles come from poverty across the whole of Iranian society, poverty caused by the rulers, and the ignorant and treacherous politicians.
“We have come here because here is our true classroom. A teacher's job is to educate. We shall give a mighty thorough lesson to the embezzlers, and we shall teach a grand lesson to the white-collared thieves [referring to mullahs]. We shall teach a great lesson to the thieves, who hide behind their fake piety, their posts and clerical garb.
“You white-collared thieves! Is it the call to prayer that you are waiting for or the call to plunder? How are you enjoying your loot under the shadow of the pulpit? You pious thieves! You ignoble embezzlers! You shameless bastards of Iranian history! By god, you shall be overthrown soon! (...)
“Our ignorant and treacherous rulers are plundering our national wealth and squandering our resources on their investments and misadventures in Syria, Iraq and Lebanon. This shows the modern barbarism of our rulers who are infecting our country today.”