The idle hands of youth

by Gareth Smith January 26, 2012

written by Gareth Smith January 26, 2012

Nearly three years ago, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s rahbar (leader), announced a five-year plan for 2010-15 with a target of 8 percent annual economic growth. But while the International Monetary Fund projects growth of 2.5 percent in 2011 and 3.4 percent in 2012 — arguably reasonable given international sanctions — this is well below enough to produce jobs for all the young people at the center of political unrest following the disputed 2009 presidential election. The Middle East is a region of young people. Overall, 60 percent of Arabs are under 25, and the median age of the Arab world is 22, compared with 28 worldwide, ranging from 31.6 in Qatar to 17.4 in Yemen. But while Iran has a median age of 27.1, fully 35 percent of its population is aged between 15 and 29, the world’s highest recorded ratio of a group keen to move into jobs and

children iran Jobs

Gareth Smith

Gareth Smith was a distinguished journalist who reported from the Middle East for over two decades. He served as the Financial Times correspondent in Tehran, where he was the chief Iran correspondent from 2003, following his earlier role as Lebanon correspondent. Throughout his career, Smith covered Middle Eastern affairs for leading media outlets, including The Financial Times, The Guardian, and the BBC. He also contributed as an editor to Executive magazine. His work as a freelance journalist in the 1990s, focusing on the politics of Iran and Iraq, paved the way for his appointment at the FT. In 2009, he relocated to the west coast of Ireland, where he balanced freelance journalism with his passion for nature and the land.

The idle hands of youth

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