The Economy Without a Future: When Decision Horizons Collapse
Over the past year, I have had countless conversations with executives from private companies, family businesses, technology firms, and even public institutions in Iran. Despite operating in different industries, many of them shared the same concern: their definition of the future is shrinking. A decade ago, strategic discussions often revolved around five-year plans, market positioning, […]
Wages, Dollars, and the Fate of Iran’s Workforce: What 20 Years of Minimum Wage Data Reveal
For most countries, minimum wage statistics are labor-market indicators. In Iran, they are something much bigger: a mirror reflecting the country’s economic policies, diplomatic relations, currency stability, and social outlook. A simple table comparing Iran’s minimum wage in local currency and its equivalent in U.S. dollars over the past two decades tells a powerful story. […]
Digital Apartheid: When Internet Access Stops Being a Public Right
There was a time when the phrase “Digital Apartheid” sounded exaggerated — a dramatic metaphor used by activists and academics to describe technological inequality between nations or social classes. But in today’s Iran, the term is slowly transforming from metaphor into reality. What is emerging is no longer merely censorship or internet filtering. It is […]
Family Businesses: The Pillars of Iran’s Economic Resilience in Times of Crisis
If we are going to speak seriously about the future of Iran’s economy, the consequences of war, reconstruction, employment, and the role of the private sector, then we must pay far greater attention to family businesses. In Iran, a family business is not merely a form of ownership; it is a mechanism of survival. Iran’s […]
IRAN: Settling Scores with the Internet Economy Under the Shadow of War
There is a dangerous moment in every prolonged crisis when governments stop seeing infrastructure as a public utility and start seeing it as a controllable privilege. In Iran, the internet increasingly feels trapped in that transition. What was once discussed as “temporary disruption,” “technical instability,” or “security management” has gradually evolved into something much larger: […]
Under Siege and Online: Iran’s Digital Businesses After the 12-Day War
After weeks of silence, Iran Startup Pulse returns—not with a whisper, but with a report from the frontline of Iran’s embattled digital economy. The 12-day war may be over, but its aftershocks still echo through Tehran’s server rooms, digital ad dashboards, and the halls of the Ministry of ICT. The nation’s tech sector, once touted […]
Iran’s Afghan Workforce at Risk: Hidden Costs of Mass Deportation—Recession, Inflation & Lost Opportunities
Over the past four decades, Iran and Afghanistan have formed a complex and inseparable bond: hundreds of kilometers of porous borders and recurring wars across the Helmand River have made Iran the first host of millions of Afghan refugees. This population—estimated by independent sources to be between five to six million today—not only bears humanitarian […]
Tokenization: A New Dawn for Iran’s Capital Market?
Imagine being able to own a fraction of a commercial tower in Dubai or shares of a tech company in Germany with just a few hundred thousand tomans—without the hassle of complex contracts or the high costs of traditional investment. Thanks to blockchain technology, this vision is no longer science fiction. It’s becoming reality through […]
Technology Firms and the Future of Iran’s Stock Market
The stock exchange has always been a crossroads where tradition meets innovation—a place where established, legacy industries coexist with emerging sectors, ultimately shaping a marketplace that reflects both the history and the future of economies. The Tehran Stock Exchange is no exception. Recent developments in policy suggest a gradual opening of a new path: enabling […]
Iran’s Role in Global Policy Research: Lessons from the OECD Study on Women Entrepreneurs
When the OECD and the Global Women’s Entrepreneurship Policy Network (GWEP) launched their global study Bridging the Finance Gap for Women Entrepreneurs in 2025, the goal was not only to understand the financial challenges women face but also to highlight how different national contexts shape access to opportunity. As one of the contributing researchers to […]
