Iran's development: Evaluation and challenges

Abstract

With the end of the Iran-Iraq war, as Iran entered the second decade of the 1979 revolution, the country got a chance to focus on economic development. Crucial items on the government's agenda included reconstruction of the war-ravaged areas, structural adjustment of the economy and a general improvement of the quality of life of the population. It was against this background that planners developed the first five-year plan for economic, social and cultural development, covering 1989 to 1993.' The purpose of this study is to evaluate the performance of the first plan, including an analysis of its underlying causal factors, and to suggest an outline of the major domestic and foreign challenges confronting the second plan. The first plan receives mixed reviews; it is important to evaluate both its successes and failures to shed light upon the related causal factors for better future economic management of the country. The article will conclude that economic development in Iran will depend on political-economic and institutional reforms, regional economic cooperation and political stability in the Persian Gulf.