This year in Abdanan, a city in Ilam province in western Iran, before the school bells rang, the “first lesson” was taught—not from repetitive textbook pages, but from the streets, backed by unity, honor, strength, and collective perseverance.
On Saturday, February 21, one of Abdanan’s well-known teachers was arrested without a judicial warrant and transferred to an undisclosed location. The news spread through the city like a spark and quickly turned into a wave of reaction. At first, citizens peacefully gathered in front of the regime’s governmental and security institutions, demanding his release, but security agents of Iran’s regime detained him.
The atmosphere in the city was tense but not fragmented; people were united and determined, and they did not back down in the face of promises and threats from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
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During the protest gathering, people stood up against the heavy security presence and, chanting “Death to Khamenei” and “Death to the dictator,” expressed their anger over repression and arrests.
One day later, on February 22, news broke that the teacher who had been arrested and abducted had been released. Within hours, the streets of Abdanan became the scene of a public celebrations, as people gathered to say that this victory was the result of unity, perseverance, and collective resistance.
According to local sources, as he retreated from his earlier claims, the criminal prosecutor had initially set “no public welcome” for the imprisoned teacher as a condition for his release. However, the people of Abdanan rejected this condition and, through their strong presence, demonstrated that a teacher’s freedom is the natural right of society, not a negotiable concession.
What happened in Abdanan was not merely the arrest and release of one individual; it was a display of society’s power and the fruit of resistance, unity, and genuine social bonds. A city that achieved victory through solidarity showed that the true capital of any society lies in its connections and its perseverance against all forms of despotism, manipulation, and dictatorship.
