Iran Past, Present and the Future

Iran's unimpressive economic performance came about as a result of the Iran-Iraq War and the inevitable collapse of oil prices, both of which were beyond the government's control, in combination with economic sanctions and many self-inflicted and self-destructive policies. Foremost among the self-inflicted and self-destructive wounds are the insecurity of individual citizens; human rights violations; the faltering private investment; lack of uniformity in the application of the laws of the land and uncertainty due to political instability, corruption, and low exports and imports (total trade) relative to the world total trade.