Iran’s teachers learn regrettable lesson from US
US sanctions on Iran could actually discourage the kind of democratic thinking the free world should want to foster.
Although US President Donald Trump’s administration denies seeking regime change in Iran, its “maximum pressure” policy clearly seeks a fundamental shift in Iran's government — which isn’t much different from a regime-change agenda in the eyes of Iranian authorities.
Many analysts don’t believe regime change would even be possible, and certainly not easy. US policy toward Iran hasn’t been able to change Tehran’s attitude, but has had serious social and political implications for Iranian society — which in turn have directly and indirectly caused a decline in civil activism in new and independent nongovernmental organizations.
US policies, in particular those involving economic pressure, have had consequences for Iranian teachers’ unions and associations.
In 2013, the election of Hassan Rouhani as president paved the way for a relatively open political sphere for Iranian civil and social forces, including teachers’ unions. Many of the unions that were under pressure before then found the opportunity to reorganize and resume their civil actions, such as meeting and negotiating with state officials, issuing statements regarding guild demands and demonstrating effectively in public.
