Human capital flight from Iran has been a significant phenomenon since the
Islamic Revolution
The Iranian Revolution (, ), also known as the 1979 Revolution, or the Islamic Revolution of 1979 (, ) was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. The revolution led to the replacement of the Im ...
of 1979. According to the
International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...
(IMF),
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
had a substantial
drain of highly skilled and educated individuals (15 percent) in the early 1990s.
More than 150,000 Iranians left the
Islamic Republic
The term Islamic republic has been used in different ways. Some Muslim religious leaders have used it as the name for a form of Islamic theocratic government enforcing sharia, or laws compatible with sharia. The term has also been used for a s ...
every year in the early 1990s,
and an estimated 25 percent of all Iranians with post-secondary education then lived abroad in
OECD
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; , OCDE) is an international organization, intergovernmental organization with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and international trade, wor ...
-standard
developed countries
A developed country, or advanced country, is a sovereign state that has a high quality of life, developed economy, and advanced technological infrastructure relative to other less industrialized nations. Most commonly, the criteria for eval ...
.
A 2009 IMF report indicated that Iran tops the list of countries that are losing their academic elite, with a loss of 150,000 to 180,000 specialists—roughly equivalent to a
capital loss of .
In addition, the political crackdown following the
2009 Iranian election protests
After incumbent president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared victory in the 2009 Iranian presidential election, protests broke out in major cities across Iran in support of opposition candidates Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi. The protests con ...
is said to have created a "spreading refugee exodus" of Iranian
intelligentsia
The intelligentsia is a status class composed of the university-educated people of a society who engage in the complex mental labours by which they critique, shape, and lead in the politics, policies, and culture of their society; as such, the i ...
. It has also been reported that the
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...
of the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
is running a covert operation code-named "Braindrain Project" with the aim of luring away nuclear-oriented Iranian talent, thus undermining
Iran's nuclear program
The Nuclear technology, nuclear program of Iran is one of the most scrutinized nuclear programs in the world. The military capabilities of the program are possible through its mass Enriched uranium, enrichment activities in facilities such a ...
.
In February 2024, the Iranian government initiated efforts to stem the flow of educated individuals leaving the country, focusing on increased surveillance and potential restrictions on movement.
Background
Between 1991 and 1999, job creation in
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
could provide for "less than 60 percent of those entering the job market", according to a 2003
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
Common Country Assessment of Iran's development.
The
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...
estimates that 77 percent of 51 million of Iranians aged 15 and over can read and write. A significant majority of this population is at or approaching collegiate levels. Among the factors contributing to the brain-drain in Iran are: "economic well-being and better educational prospects abroad. The inability of the home country to respond to its citizens' needs, coupled with high unemployment rates and a general lack of intellectual and social security, all contribute to the brain-drain. Additionally,
self-censorship Self-censorship is the act of censoring or classifying one's own discourse, typically out of fear or deference to the perceived preferences, sensibilities, or infallibility of others, and often without overt external pressure. Self-censorship is c ...
prevents people from thinking and writing freely, a limitation that makes both scientific and social science research extremely difficult".
Intense competition for university seats in Iran also plays a key role. Only about 11 percent of the approximately 1.5 million people who take exams annually are accepted into a university. Even after acquiring an undergraduate degree, young people find that there are few jobs available. According to official statistics, of the 270,000 university graduates entering the labour market each year, an estimated 75,000 can find jobs. The flight of
human capital
Human capital or human assets is a concept used by economists to designate personal attributes considered useful in the production process. It encompasses employee knowledge, skills, know-how, good health, and education. Human capital has a subs ...
costs the government over $38 billion annually, two times the revenues received from
selling oil. Under the provisions of a five-year development plan, the country is trying to create jobs for its unemployed population, though the results of these efforts have not yet materialized. Consequently, the country remains unable to benefit from
its educated diaspora or its pool of unemployed experts at home."
History
Emigration from
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
is said by one source to have started in earnest with
conscription
Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it conti ...
for the
Iran–Iraq War
The Iran–Iraq War, also known as the First Gulf War, was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. Active hostilities began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for nearly eight years, unti ...
. The government's need for fresh troops and the high mortality rate of those troops led to the flight of draft-age Iranian men to other countries.
Another factor may have been the
Iranian Cultural Revolution
The Cultural Revolution (1980–1983; : Enqelābe Farhangi) was a period following the Iranian Revolution, when the academia of Iran was purged of Western and non-Islamic influences (including traditionalist unpolitical Islamic doctrines) to align ...
, which occurred after the
1979 Islamic Revolution. On 12 June 1980, the Cultural Revolution shut down Iran's higher-education system for over a year with the goal of a complete overhaul. Nonetheless, the flight abroad of educated Iranians was commented on as early as 31 October 1980, when its importance was disparaged by the Iranian revolutionary leader
Ruhollah Khomeini
Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini (17 May 1900 or 24 September 19023 June 1989) was an Iranian revolutionary, politician, political theorist, and religious leader. He was the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the main leader of the Iranian ...
:
:''"They say there is a brain drain. Let these decayed brains flee. Do not mourn them, let them pursue their own definitions of being. Is every brain with—what you call—science in it honourable? Shall we sit and mourn the brains that escaped? Shall we worry about these brains fleeing to the
US and the
UK? Let these brains flee and be replaced by more appropriate brains. Now that they (the
Islamic Republic
The term Islamic republic has been used in different ways. Some Muslim religious leaders have used it as the name for a form of Islamic theocratic government enforcing sharia, or laws compatible with sharia. The term has also been used for a s ...
) are filtering, you are sitting worried why they are executing
eople Why are you discussing these rotten brains of
heselost people? Why are you questioning
Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
? Are they fleeing? To hell with them. Let them flee. They were not scientific brains. All the better. Don't be concerned. They should escape.
ranis not a place for them to live any more. These fleeing brains are of no use to us. Let them flee. If you know that this is no place for you, you should flee too."''
The trend continued during the Iran–Iraq War, and after a post-war relative calm, picked up once again during the unprecedented incursion of the
clerical establishment in Iranian universities, the last firm bastion of Iran's reformists. In November 2005, a cleric became chancellor of the
University of Tehran
The University of Tehran (UT) or Tehran University (, ) is a public collegiate university in Iran, and the oldest and most prominent Iranian university located in Tehran. Based on its historical, socio-cultural, and political pedigree, as well as ...
, replacing Dr. Faraji-dana, and marking the first time that Iran's clerical establishment replaced traditional academia to head a major academic institution. He has however written several books and has served on the faculty of the College of Law as an expert on
Islamic jurisprudence
''Fiqh'' (; ) is the term for Islamic jurisprudence.[Fiqh](_blank)
Encyclopædia Britannica ''Fiqh'' is of ...
.
The lengthy
list of Iranian chairs and directors of academia in these countries is arguably a sound index of this reality. Iran's brain-drain has become a focus of the media both domestically and internationally.
Some blame an impoverished job market (which in turn is blamed by many on
Western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
-imposed
economic sanctions
Economic sanctions or embargoes are Commerce, commercial and Finance, financial penalties applied by states or institutions against states, groups, or individuals. Economic sanctions are a form of Coercion (international relations), coercion tha ...
), while others blame a notoriously tightening social system. As a symptom of this, in 2006, Iranian president
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (born Mahmoud Sabbaghian on 28 October 1956) is an Iranian Iranian principlists, principlist and Iranian nationalism, nationalist politician who served as the sixth president of Iran from 2005 to 2013. He is currently a mem ...
promised to eradicate all universities from what he called "the
liberal and
secular
Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin , or or ), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. The origins of secularity can be traced to the Bible itself. The concept was fleshed out through Christian hi ...
influence".
A report by ''The Washington Prism'' in January 2006 claims that the
International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...
considers Iran to be ranked highest in
brain-drain among
developing countries
A developing country is a sovereign state with a less-developed Secondary sector of the economy, industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to developed countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. ...
, with an estimated 180,000 people exiting Iran. The
Islamic Republic News Agency reports the figure to be 200,000.
According to the Iranian
Ministry of Culture and Higher Education, there are approximately 50,000 Iranian students currently studying abroad.
Efforts to reverse trend
In recent years, several measures have been taken to slow down the brain-drain by providing work and research facilities for academics and highly skilled workers. In February 2003, the
Iran National Science Foundation
The Iran National Science Foundation (INSF) () is an Iranian government agency that supports fundamental research and education in the fields of science, engineering, and medical science.
The current director of INSF is Eaman Eftekhari (as 2019). ...
was established to promote
science and technology in Iran
Iran has made considerable advances in science and technology through education and training, despite international sanctions in almost all aspects of research during the past 30 years. Iran's university population swelled from 100,000 in 197 ...
and benefit the welfare of those engaged in
research and development
Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in some countries as OKB, experiment and design, is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products. R&D constitutes the first stage ...
.
Another institution founded to deal with the welfare of Iranians working in the sciences and technology is the "Iran National Geniuses" foundation.
Iran has tried to compensate for the brain-drain by introducing the Graduate Record Bill, which calls for the internalization and expansion of education at the graduate level, thus increasing the number of graduates.
See also
*
Economy of Iran
Iran has a mixed economy, mixed, centrally planned economy with a large public sector."A survey of Iran: Stunted and distorted". ''The Economist'' (2003) It consists of hydrocarbon, agricultural and service sectors, in addition to manufacturing ...
*
Higher education in Iran
Iran has a network of Private University, private, Public University, public, and state-affiliated universities offering degrees in higher education. State-run universities of Iran are under the direct supervision of Iran's Ministry of Science ...
*
International rankings of Iran
The following are international rankings for Iran:
Agriculture
Communication and information technology
Demographics
Economy
Education
Energy
Environment and ecology
General
Globalization
Health
History and culture
...
*
Iranian diaspora
The Iranian diaspora (collectively known as Iranian Expatriate, expats or expatriates) is the global population of Demographics of Iran, Iranian citizens or people of Iranian descent living outside Iran.
In 2021, the Ministry of Foreign Affair ...
*
Science and technology in Iran
Iran has made considerable advances in science and technology through education and training, despite international sanctions in almost all aspects of research during the past 30 years. Iran's university population swelled from 100,000 in 197 ...
References
Further reading
*
*Migration Information:
*UCSC Study:
External links
International Migration, Remittances and the Brain Drainin
Group of 15 Countries
{{Iran topics
Aftermath of the Iranian Revolution
Brain drain
Education in Iran
Economic history of Iran
Economy of Iran
Emigration
Higher education in Iran
Iranian diaspora
Science and technology in Iran