ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Iranian security forces summoned, interrogated, and dismissed a school principal in Western Iran’s Kermanshah province after her students performed a Kurdish anthem, a human rights group reported on Friday.

Iran’s constitution allows the use of “regional and tribal languages” in the press and mass media, but authorities strictly regulate Kurdish cultural practices and symbols, cracking down on and arresting many language teachers without the action violating any laws.

Zeytoun Kahzadi, the principal of Ferdowsi Elementary Girls' School in the Kurdish-populated city of Javanrud in Kermanshah province, “has been summoned by the security forces and dismissed from her position due to the performance of the revolutionary anthem ‘Řêy Xebat' by a group of students at this school,” the Oslo-based Hengaw Human Rights Organization reported on Friday.

Kahzadi "continues to teach at the same school but loses around four million tomans from her salary each month as additional punishment," the Hengaw report noted.

The anthem is one of the best-known Kurdish songs among Kurds in Iran. It is mostly performed by opposition groups and people as a symbol of resistance against oppressors.

The song's public performance has resulted in recurrent crackdowns by Iranian authorities, with Tehran prohibiting certain Kurdish symbols, slogans, songs, and traditional attire such as the Jamaneh and Khaki.

In addition to embodying Kurdish cultural heritage, these outfits are often worn and pictures shared on social media as an act of dissent against the Iranian government.

Tehran Iranian government also forbids the Kurdish folk dance, known as Halparke, which involves men and women dancing together while holding hands, a custom not accepted by the country’s political and religious leadership.

Also, in July, Iranian intelligence forces detained 14-year-old Kurdish girl Kezhal Salehi after her recitation of Kurdish poetry gained attention on social media, Hengaw reported.

In an effort to prevent festivities in the country’s western Kurdish-populated areas (Rojhelat), Iran arrested dozens of Kurdish citizens, including minors, and threatened thousands more.