A growing wave of entrepreneur migration is emerging as one of Iran’s most alarming economic trends, signaling a deeper erosion of the country’s productive capacity. Unlike the earlier phenomenon of skilled labor outflow, today’s departures involve business owners, investors and innovators—individuals whose exit means not only the loss of talent but also the dismantling of firms, supply chains and job opportunities.
Interviews with industry leaders reveal a consistent message: structural barriers at home are eroding the incentives to invest, build and innovate. Bureaucratic complexity, volatile policymaking, unstable energy supply, restricted access to global markets and mounting uncertainty are pushing entrepreneurs toward destinations such as Turkey, the UAE and Qatar, where regulatory processes are predictable and access to international finance is more attainable.
Abbas Jabalbarzi, vice-chair of the Industry Commission at Iran Chamber of Commerce, says domestic conditions have made continuity of business increasingly difficult. “In many countries, business permits are issued within 10 to 15 days,” he notes, adding that even environmentally sensitive projects rarely exceed 45 days of review. “But in Iran, an applicant must navigate dozens of organizations, with no guarantee of timelines or outcomes.” He argues that persistent energy shortages, international sanctions restricting trade finance, and chronic workforce gaps have combined to weaken Iran’s competitiveness.
Sectors Most Affected
The shift is most visible in knowledge-intensive sectors—IT, digital industries, electronics and engineering—but Jabalbarzi stresses that the trend is spreading to small and medium manufacturers as well. The logic is straightforward: establishing a business abroad offers access to global markets, enforceable rules and competitive standards—conditions increasingly difficult to secure domestically.
Shahin Zohouri, vice-chair of the Innovation and Knowledge-Based Commission, highlights economic insecurity as the decisive factor. “Without stability in decision-making, long-term planning becomes impossible,” he says. He describes a system in which multiple permit platforms, inconsistent administrative procedures and unpredictable regulations have collectively “pushed entrepreneurs toward short-term survival strategies rather than long-term investment.”
While sanctions remain a constraint, Zohouri attributes only “about 30%” of current challenges to external pressures. The remaining issues, he argues, stem from domestic mismanagement, fragmented policymaking and a lack of transparent, competitive markets. The result has been rising unemployment, particularly among skilled workers who often relocate alongside migrating firms.
Beyond structural inefficiencies, entrepreneurs also point to managerial instability and rent-seeking behavior in large state-owned and quasi-state organizations. One manufacturing owner who recently relocated part of his operations abroad told Donya-e Eqtesad that “technical competence no longer matters; political alignment does.” He described rapid turnover of senior managers, proliferation of ad-hoc directives and the dominance of intermediaries due to sanctions as key obstacles. “Under these conditions, running a business feels more like gambling than investment,” he added, noting that nearly half of his workforce had to be laid off after relocation.
Another Major Deterrent
Energy uncertainty—electricity cuts in summer and gas shortages in winter—has become another major deterrent. Combined with the global-price pegging of industrial energy tariffs, the traditional advantage of low-cost inputs has largely disappeared.
Interviewees converge on a dual-track solution: structural reform at home and reintegration abroad. Domestically, they call for predictable regulation, professional economic governance, streamlined permitting, reliable energy supply and the re-establishment of competitive markets free from preferential access. Externally, they emphasize the need for a stable, rules-based foreign policy that reopens financial channels and facilitates technology transfer.
Entrepreneur migration, they warn, is not merely an economic statistic; it is the depletion of the country’s innovation engine. Unless comprehensive reforms take hold, Iran risks a deeper erosion of its productive class—one far more difficult to rebuild than physical capital.
