Iran Develops Knowledge-based Economy

Tahir Mustafa

Rajab 10, 1444 2023-02-01

Main Stories

by Tahir Mustafa (Main Stories, Crescent International Vol. 52, No. 12, Rajab, 1444)

Given the brutal sanctions to which Islamic Iran has been subjected for decades, visitors to the country are surprised to find the massive construction cranes that dot the Tehran skyline. New highways snake through the capital city to keep up with demand of ever-increasing numbers of cars. The same situation is noticeable in other cities.

This is one aspect of the rate of progress in Iran. The other, more impressive is the growth in knowledge-based companies and start-ups in Iran. UNESCO’s Science Report 2021 states: “There has been exponential growth in knowledge-based firms and start-ups in Iran (chapter 15). This trend is the result of heightened domestic demand, combined with the multiplication of technology incubators and accelerators since the launch of the country’s first public innovation centres in 2015.”

UNESCO’s report further states: “By 2020, 49 innovation accelerators had been established with private equity and 113 innovation centres had been set up in partnership with science parks and major universities. Technology incubators, meanwhile, have been providing graduate entrepreneurs with co-working spaces and mentoring on campus to help them launch their own start-up.

“The government has been encouraging start-ups to diversify into knowledge-based fields. A series of laws and policies adopted since 2015 have removed barriers to competition and enhanced the financial support system for innovation.

“Between 2014 and 2017, exports of knowledge-based goods grew by a factor of five,” that is 500%, according to UNESCO’s report. When Donald Trump unilaterally pulled out of the nuclear deal in May 2018 and reimposed illegal sanctions, Iran’s economy came under great pressure.

Far from buckling under such pressure, the people of Iran, guided by the muttaqi leadership of ulama, found ways around such sanctions. It motivated companies to use local suppliers of knowledge-based goods and services. In 2021, Iran raised its science and technology exports to $1 billion in 70 countries.

In some global markets, Iranian companies have overtaken European and American companies, Siavash Maleki, deputy head of the Innovation and Prosperity Fund, was quoted by The Tehran Times as saying. The number of knowledge-based Iranian companies now exceeds 6,800, with half active in the field of electronics and electricity.

It needs recalling that the Rahbar, Imam Seyyed Ali Khamenei designates each Iranian year starting in March for some special objective. The year March 2022-March 2023 has been designated as “The Year of Production: Knowledge-based and Job-Creating.” Not surprisingly, Iranian scientists and engineers have focused on this area, with spectacular results.

Iran is also a leader in nanotechnology and aerospace in the West Asia region. Hitherto, its exports went mainly to Iraq, Afghanistan, Russia and Syria. The new destinations for Iran’s science and technology exports will include the Persian Gulf littoral states, Europe, China and Central Asia. Given its huge resource base—Iran has the world’s fourth largest number of engineering graduates, with some five million engineers—it provides a solid base to build a knowledge-based economy.

In matters of defence, Iran has become virtually self-sufficient. It has also made impressive gains in missile and drone technology. Not surprisingly, both are being targeted by the collective west and their illegitimate off spring, zionist Israel. Even Tehran’s staunch enemies now admit that Iran has made impressive gains in missile and drone technology.

It is laughable to note that in the past, western regimes led by the US insisted other countries should not supply any weapons to Iran. Now the same group of villainous regimes say other countries should not buy weapons from Iran!

Tehran has shared such technology with resistance movements in Lebanon, Palestine and Yemen enabling them to defend themselves against external aggressors. Self-defence is a fundamental right recognized in International Law but the outlaw regimes that target Islamic Iran abide by no laws. They are gangsters in suits masquerading as world leaders.

In recent weeks, there has been much vile propaganda against Iran relating to the rights of women. While the west exploits women in numerous ways forcing them into degrading activities—semi-naked women displayed on billboards to sell various products, for instance—these are labelled as ‘freedom’. In Iran, women continue to lead a dignified existence.

Addressing the International Congress for Women of Influence in Tehran on January 19, 2023, President Ebrahim Raeisi pointed out that women had made great progress since the victory of the Islamic Revolution in February 1979. He elaborated on the significant measures Iran has taken to improve the situation of women.

Pointing to the empowerment of women, President Raeisi said they had improved their status in scientific, cultural, social and economic arenas while observing their human dignity. “Women constitute more than 30 percent of university lecturers in Iran, and close to 60 percent of university students in the country are women.”

The path to progress is not found in nudity or degradation, but through dignified existence that allows women to lead a life without being molested by lecherous men. This is an important lesson that the collective west refuses to learn.