Sales of Iranian Tech Firms Hit $7.6b

Sales of Iranian startups and knowledge-based companies reached 1.8 quadrillion rials ($7.6 billion) in the last Iranian year (ended March 20, 2020), a senior official with the Vice Presidential Office for Science and Technology says.
Esmaeil Qaderifar added that tech firms' earnings have been rising over the past few years, reaching 1.2 quadrillion rials ($4.8 billion) in the year ending March 2019 and 1.5 quadrillion rials ($6 billion) in the fiscal 2019-20 from 600 trillion rials ($2.4 billion) in the fiscal 2017-18. 
Qaderifar noted that the number will continue to grow in the current year.
“The growth has been achieved despite hurdles. The reimposition of US sanctions against Iran in the summer of 2018 and the Covid outbreak in February 2020 have been blessings in disguise for the technology ecosystem,” he said. 
Tech firms spearheaded localization efforts while profiting from extensive state support and zero foreign competition.