Iran’s revolution of 1979 paved the ground for the establishment of a new political system which was designed to respect both its democratic and spiritual values. Over the past three decades Iranian governments have withstood pressure from global powers and systematically relied on the will of their people to progress. 

 

People and governments around the world are still inspired by Iran’s revolution, which has inspired several national movements in the Middle East.

 

From the beginning of Iran’s revolution, trans-regional powers have used everything at their disposal to undermine Iran’s independence. This will continue as long as Iran insists on maintaining its core national and spiritual values.

 

After the full-scale war imposed on Iranian nation, global powers devised new plans, especially in form of economic sanctions, to break Iran’s resistance against their pressure. However this failed to significantly weaken Iran’s determination to make progress in various scientific and technological fields.

 

Just like the process that led to the overthrow of the democratically elected Mossadegh’s government in Iran in 1952 by the United States at the request of then British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, the current battle between Iran and the global powers is for certainly an economic battle. Therefore Iran should be equipped with new economic solutions to counter new economic attacks.

 

The best option for Iran to resolve its current economic problems is to develop a new economic agenda in which sanctions are identified as opportunities for growth and not as threats. This will make Iranians less reliable on their huge oil revenues and more inclined to bolster their economic capacities. Our economy should be called a "resistance economy" and our approach "resistance economics", because it is based on the idea that bowing to pressure will end in disaster. It is resistance itself which finally results in victory. 

 

Tohid Atashbar is a researcher in the Department of Planning in Iran's Parliament Research Center.