Iran's startups will continue to face pressure from hardline agenda

Al-Monitor Pro Members

Dr. Bijan Khajehpour

Managing Partner, Eurasian Nexus Partners, Vienna, Austria

Aug. 29, 2023

Iran has a complex economic system with the government as well as semi-state institutions dominating the economic sphere and constraining the private sector. In recent months, the security establishment has targeted entrepreneurs and entities in the country's startup ecosystem, threatening to confiscate some of the successful startups. It is an alarming situation and may further limit the ability of the private sector to operate in the Iranian market. The question is how far the hardliners — meaning political forces who reject Western values and phenomena — will be prepared to go and what the reaction of the constituents of power will be.