Iran Without a Horizon: Why Restoring Long-Term Planning Is a National Imperative
In an economy confronted daily by uncertainty, policy reversals, and external shocks, the horizon for decision-making inevitably shrinks. Businesses plan only a few months ahead. Households focus on meeting immediate expenses. Policymakers, instead of pursuing long-term development, spend most of their energy containing the crisis of the day. The result is an economy that continues […]
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 […]
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 […]
Tokenization and the Future of Iran’s Digital Economy
(From my op-ed in Donya-e-Eqtesad) By Reza Ghiabi Staying ahead in today’s rapidly shifting markets requires more than following trends — it requires understanding the underlying transformations that are reshaping how value, trust, and transactions flow in the global economy. One of these transformations is asset tokenization, a concept that, despite the buzz around it, […]
