The Great Escape: Presidential Research Institute Warns of Mass Emigration

Since the 1979 revolution and establishment of the Islamic Republic, Iran has experienced sustained human capital flight documented by the International Monetary Fund and other international organizations. Until recently, the regime in Tehran either ignored or welcomed the exodus of intelligentsia, which relieved it of dealing with restive and ideologically nonconformist minds. The emigration, however, has apparently reached proportions that unsettle Iran’s own experts.  

• August 15: The Center for Strategic Studies of the Presidency, quoted in reformist Etemad newspaper, in its latest report warned against mass emigration of the expert work force from Iran: 
  • According to the polling upon which the report is based, “The Iranian society is currently undergoing a particular condition regarding emigration. Absent attempts to control and manage trends accelerating emigration, the society may enter a phase of mass emigration, or cluster emigration with waves of emigration, all of which may prove devastating and have grave consequences for society and future growth and development of the country.” 
  • “Increased inclination to emigrate among different social groups, such as laborers, athletes, medical doctors, scholars, job creators, capitalists, and the like, all indicate that the state is facing serious problems regarding keeping its human resources and managing emigration abroad … This is also a crisis of mismanagement.” 
  • “Managing this crisis necessitates improved economic, social, and political structures in the country, and creating hope regarding general conditions in the country.” 
  • “The poll shows that economic developments due to sanctions and inflation particularly motivate medical doctors, nurses, university students, and university graduates … Job creators and startups too point at lack of trust in the economy … Economic sanctions, inflation, fluctuating currency value, a sense of insecurity and unpredictability of the economic system … and the like encourage them to emigrate.” 

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