Uncoiling Iran
EN AR

by Gareth Smith February 6, 2014

written by Gareth Smith February 6, 2014

Rowhani brings reform to the Islamic Republic

Nothing raises the entrepreneurial juices like the smell of a new market. Last month’s implementation of November’s interim Geneva nuclear deal between Iran and the world powers alerted United States and European companies to the prospect that, sooner or later, sanctions will loosen and Iran will open up. The business potential is immense. Income that could be generated from the world’s largest gas reserves, at 33.6 trillion cubic meters or 18 percent of the global total, and the fourth largest oil reserves, at 157 billion barrels or 9.4 percent of global reserves, would make the Iranians wealthy. Lifting sanctions would make possible the 8 percent average annual growth rate envisaged in the Five Year Plan of 2010-15. Iran is like a pent-up spring, pushed back by US and European sanctions which in two years have halved oil exports and obstructed access to both insurance and dollar markets, as well as

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.

Uncoiling IranENAR

You may also like

Uncoiling Iran
EN AR