Purpose: This paper aims to investigate the organizational commitment of teachers in India and Iran. It is an attempt to understand how these perceptions vary by demographic variables such as age and subject taught by teachers. Design/methodology/approach: Data were collected from 721 high school teachers in Bangalore (India) and Sanandaj (Iran). They were asked to respond to the Meyer and Allen questionnaire. Data were analyzed via SPSS version 11.0. Findings: Results revealed that Indian teachers had better organizational commitment in the affective and normative components and Iranian teachers were found to have better organizational commitment in the continuance component. In both countries age groups and subject taught by teachers did not have any influence over their organizational commitment. Research limitations/implications: This research was limited by the relatively restricted sample of high school teachers in both countries. Future research should test initially confirmed associations in different school contexts with substantially dissimilar teacher demographics, and include consideration of dispositional antecedents that may affect teacher perceptions. Originality/value: This is the only study comparing Indian and Iranian organizational commitment in schools. The study provides an initial understanding of the possible effect of cultures on the organizational commitment of teachers in two different countries. (Contains 3 tables.)