On the 31st of July, there was a significant role in the activities of the past year for teacher activists. On one hand, the detention of nearly 170 teachers on the same day and the global reflection of the demonstrations and arrests, and on the other hand, the statements of government officials and parliament members, each trying to blame the other. Just two days after the demonstration, the deputy of the Ministry of Interior, in an interview with the teachers’ union, acknowledged the teachers’ demonstrations and recognized the right to protest by the government, trying to shift the blame for the peaceful teachers’ demonstration onto other entities. On the same day, the Vice President of Parliament, addressing the government, demanded accountability from government officials regarding the events of that day.

This was happening while before and after the gathering of CVK, summoning of trade activists by the supervision of education and training institutions and information organizations had seen an unprecedented increase; organizations that were directly under the supervision of the government of Prudence and Hope were operating.

From here, the question arises as to what approach the Rouhani government has taken towards civil and professional activities during the past two years?

If we only look at the responses to the question within the scope of security confrontations and detentions that have taken place in the field of professional activities in the past two years, we must definitely evaluate President Rouhani’s approach as negative and security-oriented; because the level of detentions and confrontations with professional activists, both in the field of teaching and in the field of labor, has shown a greater increase compared to the Ahmadinejad presidency (in the first term).

Despite this, many supporters of Rouhani’s government have attributed the actions taken to entities outside of the government and justify the lack of positive performance in these areas due to economic problems caused by sanctions.

Even if we accompany each other with such an understanding, there are still other cases that show that the approach of the Rouhani government towards formations is dual and symbolic. In fact, on one hand, the Rouhani government tries to show the policy of moderation as the policy of open space and cultural security in public opinion and in the media, but in practice, not only does it not make any real effort to open up social and political space, but it seems that the culture of security is still in place.

Some examples of this approach include:

Two years have passed since the beginning of the new government’s work. In the first months of the new government’s work, the Ministry of Interior spoke about the negligent behavior of the officials of this ministry towards civil and trade activities and efforts to expand civil and non-governmental institutions. These statements drew a hopeful outlook for many trade activists, especially teacher trade unions. These institutions, which were unable to obtain a license to hold their own meetings during the eight-year period of the Ahmadinejad government, hoped that with the start of the new government, they would be able to renew their trade licenses and have the opportunity to hold internal elections and rotate and replace younger forces. However, despite two years passing since these promises, not only has the government not provided such opportunities to these institutions, but many trade activists have been forced to leave their trade activities in these unions under the threat of being deemed illegal by security institutions under the supervision of the government.

On the other hand, summoning activists, especially in the provinces, by the surveillance departments of the Ministry of Education and threats of dismissal and pressure to stop professional activities, shows another form of negative approach of the government of prudence and hope towards professional activities. The surveillance departments of the Ministry of Education are completely under the control of the government and the responsibility for such actions clearly lies with the officials of the ministry and the government. Despite the protests of professional associations against such actions, there has been no positive or significant response from accountable institutions so far.

In addition, attention must be paid to the disregard of officials in the Ministry of Education and the government towards the volume of protests that have taken place in the past year. This is while a significant portion of the new government’s vote basket belonged to educators who voted for President Rouhani with the hope of improving living conditions, increasing the quality of education, and opening up civil spaces.

After more than two years since June 2013, it seems that one of the most dissatisfied social groups with the new government is the community of educators. Despite minimal and symbolic efforts, such as the implementation of the ranking plan, aimed at reducing these protests, there is no hope for reducing the protests due to the discriminatory gap between the salaries of teachers and other government employees.

On the other hand, confrontations with trade activists and prevention of legal activities of trade associations may lead to a short-term recession of activities, but ultimately it can result in a more radicalization of trade spaces.