Opening up Iran after partial lift of sanctions

Beyond the showcase of products and services that satisfy both local and international tastes, the 22nd Press Exhibition held in Tehran last week underscored the burning desire of Iran to reclaim its status as an active player in the global economy.

Regarded as Iran’s most significant media display, the one-week outing held at Imam Khomeini Mosalla in the heart of the city of Tehran offered a good opportunity to present and portray the theme of Iran’s print media in addition to promoting regional and international interactions. While the exhibitors, over 900 media outlets including newspapers, magazines, news agencies and press organisations were mainly local players in the media sector of the Iran economy, the invitation extended to some foreign professional journalists from China, Germany, Italy, Japan, Nigeria, South Korea, Uzbekistan, and Ukraine was in line with the government policy of repositioning Iran not only as an open society, but as a country that has overcome the agony of four years of international sanctions, and is now ready to ‘explode’ on international market.

The venue, Imam Khomeini Mosalla in Tehran, for one week (November 4 to 11, 2016) was a beehive of activities including meetings, networking, seminars and workshops. The invited foreign journalists did not only have the opportunity to share their experiences with Iranian journalists, they also felt and saw Iran, first hand, by moving around the city, interacting with locals and through engagement with top government officials, heads of government agencies and corporate organisations including key business players in the private sector.

Indeed, the sanctions had taught Iran hard lessons, but which had turned out to be positive. With a population of over 80 million, “generating and distributing 74000mw”guarantees an uninterrupted supply of electricity for domestic and industrial use. The standard of the network of roads, especially in the capital city is similar to what is obtainable in developed countries of the world. “But social amenities are distributed evenly across the country,” Mohammad Jafar Safi, Director General, Foreign Media Department of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, said during an interaction with the group of Nigerian journalists. His clarification was in response to the curiosity expressed by some members of the group on whether development in social infrastructures is limited to urban centres alone. And their experience in Shiraz, another city which is about one hour, 15 minutes flight from Tehran confirmed Jafar Safi’s statement.

Jafar Safi

What surprises the guests most of whom are visiting Tehran for the first time is the relative peace that permeates all the nooks and crannies of the city. Jafar Safi would attribute this to food security and absence of internal tension as a result of transparent policy of governance adopted by the political leadership. “Iran is self-sufficient in terms of food production,” he added, saying the precipitous decline of Iran’s currency (the exchange rate as at last week is 100000 Rails to three US Dollars) could not provoke any economic crisis because “Iran virtually produces all it needs both for domestic and industrial use. In fact, now, we have sufficient goods and services for local consumption as well for export.”

Although the sanctions impacted heavily on the inflow of foreign investments and the procurement of sophisticated machines in critical industrial and medical sectors, Safi said the sanctions also had positive effects on Iran in the areas of agricultural and industrial empowerment. He canvassed a total lift of the ban in order for Iran to unleash its potentials and contribute meaningfully to wellbeing of humanity generally.

For Iran’s Vice President and Head of Department of Environment, Dr. (Mrs) Masoumeh Ebtekar, the coincidence of the press exhibition with the presidential election of the United States of America was instructive. According to her, the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran will not only cooperate with the new leadership, but will also continue to demonstrate abiding faith in the implementation of the Nuclear Agreement. Mrs Ebtekar expressed hope and optimism that the outcome of the U.S. election would strengthen the implementation of the Nuclear deal signed in January this year.

Member of the Parliament, Ciamak

The Vice President, who also called for an improved bilateral ties between Nigeria and Iran in the areas of economy, culture and science, said “moving the agreement to logical conclusion is uppermost for Iranian people. We hope that the new leader will take rational steps to move forward with the nuclear agreement, even though part of the agreement has not been properly implemented by the US, but we still have an agreement, that is very important and Iran is abiding fully to that agreement, and we look forward to working with the new president of the US,” Mrs Ebtekar said.

According to her, the government is desirous of restoring the rights of the Iranians, “because the sanctions are like chains to the feet of Iranian nation,” making reference to what she described as “beautiful analogy” by President Hassan Rouhani in a recent statement justifying why the country had to find diplomatic way to resolve the nuclear issue.

The Vice President narrated, “President Rouhani said the global community has been competing like in a race together, and Iran is also in the race, but we have chains on our feet… so, that was why we go to the negotiation table to remove all the chains by diplomatic means, not by force or conflict. I think, this is a good example for global community to always think of how to resolve conflict peacefully.”

She vouched for Iran’s continued commitment to engender stability and peaceful coexistence, especially in the Middle East, saying, “we are combating terrorism and we look forward to continue in that path. We also hope that we can work with all governments that are involved in the agreement.”

Mrs Ebtekar is happy that the country is putting the agony of years of sanctions behind especially with empowering of womenfolk economically, socially and politically. “Like any other countries, Iran has a lot of economic, social and political challenges. But we have also advanced in many areas. One of such areas is in the empowerment of Iranian women. They have been enjoying inalienable rights in education and all other spheres. For instance, for two decades now, we have been having more women in the entrance examination into universities. It is about 60 per cent. So, we have educated elite of Iranian women. They have also excelled in sports, arts and culture, economics… indeed, in any field, women are very active in Iran.

“They have a lot of influence in social and political areas. We have about 18 elected women in the parliament; three women in the cabinet of which two are Vice Presidents. The political advancement of women has been rapid in the last two decades both at urban centers and at the grassroots.”

Specifically, she mentioned lack of access to new technology in the areas of air pollution and fertilizer production in addition to curtailing Iran’s efficiency in energy management as the major impact of the sanctions.

“The sanctions had devastating effects on our environment and curtailed our efforts to enhance our standard of living. Life, really became difficult both in terms of exchanges and partnership we needed with the world.

“But now that the sanctions have been lifted, although we still have some hurdles and obstacles, we have been having exchanges at international levels; technical workshops addressing issues of environmental standard and protection; oil and gas investors are now willing to come and do business with Iran. The atmosphere is changing very rapidly,” she noted.

Dr. Ebtekar is serving as Vice President of Iran for the second term. She was first appointed in August 1997 under the President of Mohammad Khatami and remained in office till August 2005. Before her latest appointment on September 10, 2013 as one of the seven Vice Presidents of Iran, she had also served as Member of the City Council of Tehran from January 21, 2007 to September 3, 2013.

Perhaps, what also makes political system in Iran unique are the rights accorded the minority groups like Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians. Mr. Ciamak Morsadegh, the only Jewish member of the parliament in Iran during an interaction with the foreign journalists rated the country high in the area of religious freedom among the gulf countries. “Even, in politics, my country is more democratic than the United States,” Morsadegh said making reference to the role of money and media (propaganda) in the US elections.