The Islamic Republic is wary of foreign investors but will need them to ensure economic growth as sanctions are lifted
When I travelled to Tehran last summer to speak at an energy conference, I was inundated with a range of technical questions I couldn’t answer. Young men and women asked for drafts of my presentation, and later emailed me with queries, so revealing how educated and skilled is Iran’s rising generation.
The debate at the conference over Iran’s best model for economic growth – and whether it should expand ties with both Russia and the United States – illustrated a broad consensus in Iran on the importance of independent development and of attracting the kind of investment that will support this. The Islamic Republic’s founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s slogan of “neither east, nor west” summed up this aspiration.
Related: The secret side of Iran-US relations since the 1979 revolution
Related: How to succeed in Iran: lessons from Russia and China