title: Ajit Doval

text: In recent years, he has delivered guest lectures on strategic issues at IISS, London, Capitol Hill, Washington DC, Australia-India Institute, University of Melbourne, National Defence College, New Delhi and the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie. Doval has also spoken internationally at global events, citing the ever-increasing need of co-operation between the major established and emerging powers of the world.


title: Ajit Doval

text: On 30 May 2014, Doval was appointed as India's fifth National Security Advisor. In June 2014, Doval facilitated the return of 46 Indian nurses who were trapped in a hospital in Tikrit, Iraq, following the capture of Mosul by ISIL. Doval, flew to Iraq on 25 June 2014 to understand the position on the ground and make high-level contacts in the Iraqi government. Although the exact circumstances of their release are unclear, on 5 July 2014, ISIL militants handed the nurses to Kurdish authorities at Erbil city and an Air India plane specially-arranged by the Indian government brought them back home to Kochi.


title: Ajit Doval

text: Along with Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag, Doval planned an cross-border military operation against National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-K) separatists operating out of Myanmar. Indian officials claimed that the mission was a success and 20-38 separatist belonging to Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-K) were killed in the operation. However, the Myanmar government denied the strikes. According to Myanmar officials, the Indian operation against NSCN-K took place entirely on the Indian side of the border.


title: Ajit Doval

text: He is widely credited for the doctrinal shift in Indian national security policy in relation to Pakistan. It was speculated that the September 2016 Indian strikes in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir were his brainchild. Doval is widely credited along with then Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar and Indian Ambassador to China Vijay Keshav Gokhale, for resolving Doklam Standoff through diplomatic channels and negotiations.


title: Ajit Doval

text: In October 2018, he was appointed as the Chairman of the Strategic Policy Group (SPG), which is the first tier of a three tier structure at the National Security Council and forms the nucleus of its decision-making apparatus.


title: Ajit Doval

text: Following the 2019 Balakot airstrike and retaliatory 2019 Jammu and Kashmir airstrikes and subsequent capture of Indian pilot Abhinandan Varthaman by Pakistani military, Ajit Doval had held talks with US Secretary of State and National Security Advisor to secure the release of the Indian pilot.


title: Ajit Doval

text: On 3 June 2019, he was reappointed as NSA for 5 years and granted the personal rank of a Cabinet Minister. Doval is the first NSA to hold such a rank. He was also an instrumental figure in revocation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.


title: Ajit Doval

text: On 26, Feb 2020, Ajit Doval walked the streets of riot-hit northeast Delhi to assess the situation and reassure the local residents.


title: Ajit Doval

text: On 15 May 2020, the military forces of Myanmar handed over a group of 22 militant leaders, active in Assam and other northeast states, to the Indian government. This was made possible through negotiations headed by Doval.


title: Ajit Doval

text: On 15 September 2020, Doval walked out of a virtual SCO meeting after Pakistan projected a fictitious map omitting parts of India.


title: Economy of Iran

text: The economy of Iran is a mixed economy with a large state-owned sector and is the largest in the Middle East in terms of nominal GDP. It is the world's 21st largest by purchasing power parity (PPP). Some 60% of Iran's economy is centrally planned. It is dominated by oil and gas production, although over 40 industries are directly involved in the Tehran Stock Exchange. The stock exchange has been one of the best performing exchanges in the world over the past decade. With 10% of the world's proven oil reserves and 15% of its gas reserves, Iran is considered an "energy superpower".


title: Economy of Iran

text: A unique feature of Iran's economy is the presence of large religious foundations called bonyads, whose combined budgets represent more than 30 percent of central government spending.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Price controls and subsidies, particularly on food and energy, are heavily prominent in the economy. Contraband, administrative controls, widespread corruption, and other restrictive factors undermine private sector-led growth. The government's 20-year vision (as of 2020), involves market-based reforms reflected in the government's, with a five-year development plan (FY 2016 to FY 2021) focusing on "a resilient economy" and "progress in science and technology". Most of the country's exports are oil and gas, accounting for a majority of government revenue in 2010. However in March 2022, the Iranian parliament under new president Ebrahim Raisi decided to eliminate a major subsidy for importing food, medicines and animal feed, valued at $15 billion in FY2021. Also in March 2022, 20 billion tons of basic goods exports from Russia including vegetable oil, wheat, barley and corn were agreed.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Iran's educated population, high human development, constrained economy and insufficient foreign and domestic investment prompted an increasing number of Iranians to seek overseas employment, resulting in a significant "brain drain". However, in 2015, Iran and the P5+1 reached a deal on the nuclear program which removed most international sanctions. Consequently, for a short period, the tourism industry was significantly improved and the inflation of the country was decreased though US withdrawal from the JCPOA in 2018 hindered the growth of the economy again and increased inflation.


title: Economy of Iran

text: GDP contracted in 2018 and 2019, but a modest rebound was expected in 2020. Challenges include a COVID-19 outbreak starting in February 2020 and US sanctions reimposed in mid-2018, increased unemployment due to the sanctions, inflation, a "chronically weak and undercapitalised" banking system, and an "anemic" private sector. Iran's currency (Iranian rial) has fallen, and Iran has a relatively low rating in "Economic Freedom", and "ease of doing business".


title: Economy of Iran

text: In 546 BC, Croesus of Lydia was defeated and captured by the Persians, who then adopted gold as the main metal for their coins. There are accounts in the biblical Book of Esther of dispatches being sent from Susa to provinces as far out as India and the Kingdom of Kush during the reign of Xerxes the Great (485–465 BC). By the time of Herodotus (c. 475 BC), the Royal Road of the Persian Empire ran some 2,857 km from the city of Susa on the Karun (250 km east of the Tigris) to the port of Smyrna (modern İzmir in Turkey) on the Aegean Sea.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Modern agriculture in Iran dates back to the 1850s when Amir Kabir undertook a number of changes to the traditional agricultural system. Such changes included importing modified seeds and signing collaboration contracts with other countries. Polyakov's "Bank Esteqrazi" was bought in 1898 by the Tzarist government of Russia, and later passed into the hands of the Iranian government by a contract in 1920. The bank continued its activities under the name of "Bank Iran" until 1933 when incorporating the newly founded Keshavarzi Bank.


title: Economy of Iran

text: The Imperial Bank of Persia was established in 1885, with offices in all major cities of Persia. Reza Shah Pahlavi (r. 1925–41) improved the country's overall infrastructure, implemented educational reform, campaigned against foreign influence, reformed the legal system, and introduced modern industries. During this time, Iran experienced a period of social change, economic development, and relative political stability.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Reza Shah Pahlavi, who abdicated in 1941, was succeeded by his son, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi (r. 1941–79). No fundamental change occurred in the economy of Iran during World War II (1939–45) and the years immediately following. However, between 1954 and 1960 a rapid increase in oil revenues and sustained foreign aid led to greater investment and fast-paced economic growth, primarily in the government sector. Subsequently, inflation increased, the value of the national currency (the rial) depreciated, and a foreign-trade deficit developed. Economic policies implemented to combat these problems led to declines in the rates of nominal economic growth and per capita income by 1961.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Prior to 1979, Iran developed rapidly. Traditionally agricultural, by the 1970s, the country had undergone significant industrialization and modernization. The pace slowed by 1978 as capital flight reached $30 to $40 billion 1980-US dollars just before the revolution.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Following the nationalizations in 1979 and the outbreak of the Iran–Iraq War, over 80% of the economy came under government control. The eight-year war with Iraq claimed at least 300,000 Iranian lives and injured more than 500,000. The cost of the war to the country's economy was some $500 billion.


title: Economy of Iran

text: After hostilities ceased in 1988, the government tried to develop the country's communication, transportation, manufacturing, health care, education and energy sectors (including its prospective nuclear power facilities), and began integrating its communication and transportation systems with those of neighboring states.


title: Economy of Iran

text: The government's long-term objectives since the revolution were stated as economic independence, full employment, and a comfortable standard of living but Iran's population more than doubled between 1980 and 2000 and its median age declined. Although many Iranians are farmers, agricultural production has consistently fallen since the 1960s. By the late 1990s, Iran imported much of its food. At that time, economic hardship in the countryside resulted in many people moving to cities.


title: Economy of Iran

text: The following table shows the main economic indicators in 1980–2021 (with IMF staff estimates in 2022–2027). Inflation below 10% is in green.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Iran's national science budget in 2005 was about $900 million, roughly equivalent to the 1990 figure. By early 2000, Iran allocated around 0.4% of its GDP to research and development, ranking the country behind the world average of 1.4%. In 2009 the ratio of research to GDP was 0.87% against the government's medium-term target of 2.5%. Iran ranked first in scientific growth in the world in 2011 and 17th in science production in 2012.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Iran has a broad and diversified industrial base. According to "The Economist", Iran ranked 39th in a list of industrialized nations, producing $23 billion of industrial products in 2008. Between 2008 and 2009 Iran moved to 28th from 69th place in annual industrial production growth because of its relative isolation from the 2008 international financial crisis.


title: Economy of Iran

text: In the early 21st century, the service sector was the country's largest, followed by industry (mining and manufacturing) and agriculture. In 2008 GDP was estimated at $382.3 billion ($842 billion PPP), or $5,470 per capita ($12,800 PPP).


title: Economy of Iran

text: In 2010, the nominal GDP was projected to double in the next five years. However, real GDP growth was expected to average 2.2% a year in 2012–16, insufficient to reduce the unemployment rate. Furthermore, international sanctions have damaged the economy by reducing oil exports by half before recovering in 2016. The Iranian rial lost more than half of its value in 2012, directing Iran at an import substitution industrialization and a resistive economy. According to the International Monetary Fund, Iran is a "transition economy", i.e., changing from a planned to a market economy.


title: Economy of Iran

text: The United Nations classifies Iran's economy as semi-developed. In 2014, Iran ranked 83rd in the World Economic Forum's analysis of the global competitiveness of 144 countries. Political, policy and currency stability are regarded as the most problematic factors in doing business in Iran. Difficulty in accessing financing is also a major concern, especially for small and medium enterprises. Most of Iran's financial resources are directed at trading, smuggling and speculation instead of production and manufacturing. According to Goldman Sachs, Iran has the potential to become one of the world's largest economies in the 21st century. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani stated, in 2014, that the country has the potential to become one of the ten largest economies within the next 30 years.


title: Economy of Iran

text: One major problem often cited by Iranian industrialists is that the government is not supporting them by authorizing imports of similar parts or products into the country, thus undermining their activity and domestic market. This is partly due to corrupt interests inside the government and mismanagement.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Expansion of public healthcare and international relations are the other main objectives of the fifth plan, an ambitious series of measures that include subsidy reform, banking recapitalization, currency, taxation, customs, construction, employment, nationwide goods and services distribution, social justice and productivity. The intent is to make the country self-sufficient by 2015 and replace the payment of $100 billion in subsidies annually with targeted social assistance. These reforms target the country's major sources of inefficiency and price distortion and are likely to lead to major restructuring of almost all economic sectors. As such, by removing energy subsidies, Iran intends to make its industries more efficient and competitive. By 2016, one third of Iran's economic growth is expected to originate from productivity improvement. Energy subsidies left the country one of the world's least energy-efficient, with energy intensity three times the global average and 2.5 times higher than the Middle Eastern average. Notwithstanding its own issues, the banking sector is seen as a potential hedge against the removal of subsidies, as the plan is not expected to directly impact banks.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Iran's budget is established by the Management and Planning Organization of Iran and proposed by the government to the parliament before the year's end. Following approval of the budget by Majlis, the central bank presents a detailed monetary and credit policy to the Money and Credit Council (MCC) for approval. Thereafter, major elements of these policies are incorporated into the five-year economic development plan. The plan is part of "Vision 2025", a strategy for long-term sustainable growth.


title: Economy of Iran

text: The sixth five-year development plan for the 2016–2021 period places emphasis on "guidelines" rather than "hard targets". It defines only three priorities:


title: Economy of Iran

text: Since the 1979 revolution, government spending has averaged 59% on social policies, 17% on economic matters, 15% on national defense, and 13% on general affairs. Payments averaged 39% on education, health and social security, 20% on other social programs, 3% on agriculture, 16% on water, power and gas, 5% on manufacturing and mining, 12% on roads and transportation and 5% on other economic affairs. Iran's investment reached 27.7% of GDP in 2009. Between 2002 and 2006, inflation fluctuated around 14%. In 2008, around 55% of government revenue came from oil and natural gas revenue, with 31% from taxes and fees. There are virtually millions of people who do not pay taxes in Iran and hence operate outside the formal economy. The budget for year 2012 was $462 billion, 9% less than 2011. The budget is based on an oil price of $85 per barrel. The value of the US dollar is estimated at IRR 12,260 for the same period. According to the head of the Department of Statistics of Iran, if the rules of budgeting were observed the government could save at least 30 to 35% on its expenses. The central bank's interest rate is 21%, and the inflation rate has climbed to 22% in 2012, 10% higher than in 2011. There is little alignment between fiscal and monetary policy. According to the Central Bank of Iran, the gap between the rich and the poor narrowed because of monthly subsidies but the trend could reverse if high inflation persists.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Iran had an estimated $110 billion in foreign reserves in 2011 and balances its external payments by pricing oil at approximately $75 per barrel. As of 2013, only $30 to $50 billion of those reserves are accessible because of current sanctions. Iranian media has questioned the reason behind Iran's government non-repatriation of its foreign reserves before the imposition of the latest round of sanctions and its failure to convert into gold. As a consequence, the Iranian rial lost more than 40% of its value between December 2011 and April 2012. Iran's external and fiscal accounts reflect falling oil prices in FY 2012, but remain in surplus. The current account was expected to reach a surplus of 2.1% of GDP in FY 2012, and the net fiscal balance (after payments to Iran's National Development Fund) will register a surplus of 0.3% of GDP. In 2013 the external debts stood at $7.2 billion down from $17.3 billion in 2012. Overall fiscal deficit is expected to deteriorate to 2.7% of GDP in FY 2016 from 1.7% in 2015.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Money in circulation reached $700 billion in March 2020 (based on the 2017 pre-devaluation exchange rate), thus furthering the decline of the Iranian rial and rise in inflation.


title: Economy of Iran

text: The GDP of Iran contracted in FY 2018 and FY 2019 and modest rebound is expected in 2020/2021 according to an April 2020 World Economic Outlook by the IMF.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Challenges to the economy include the COVID-19 outbreak starting in February 2020, which on top of US sanctions reimposed in mid-2018 and other factors, led a fall in oil production and are projected to lead to a slow recovery in oil exports. Labor-force participation has risen but unemployment is above 10% as of 2020 and projected to rise in 2021 and 2022. Inflation reached 41.1% in 2019, and is expected to continue "in the coming years" according to the World Bank, but decline into the 34-33% range. In July 2022, the average inflation rate rose 40.5% while the inflation rate for food and beverages alone rose 87%. Iran's banking system is "chronically weak and undercapitalised" according to Nordea Bank Abp, holding billions of dollars of non-performing loans, and the private sector remains "anemic". The unofficial Iranian rial to US dollar exchange rate, which had plateaued at 40,000 to one in 2017, has fallen 120,000 to one as of November 2019. Iran's economy has a relatively low rating in the Heritage Foundation's "Index of Economic Freedom" (164 out of 180); and ease of doing business ranking (127 among 190) according to the World Bank. Critics have complained that privatization has led not to state owned businesses being taken over by "skilled businesspeople" but by the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps "and its associates". In 2020, an Iranian businessperson complained to a foreign journalist (Dexter Filkins) that the uncertainty of "chronic shortages of material and unruly inspectors pushing for bribes" made operating his business very difficult -- "Plan for the next quarter? I can't plan for tomorrow morning."


title: Economy of Iran

text: According to the NIOC, daily consumption of gasoline in Iran has surpassed 85 million liters, i.e., 10 times more than Turkey with almost the same population.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Following the hostilities with Iraq, the Government declared its intention to privatize most industries and to liberalize and decentralize the economy. Sale of state-owned companies proceeded slowly, mainly due to opposition by a nationalist majority in the parliament. In 2006, most industries, some 70% of the economy, remained state-owned. The majority of heavy industries including steel, petrochemicals, copper, automobiles, and machine tools remained in the public sector, with most light industry privately owned.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Article 44 of the Iranian Constitution declares that the country's economy should consist of state, cooperative, and private based sectors. The state sector includes all large-scale industries, foreign trade, major minerals, banking, insurance, power generation, dams and large-scale irrigation networks, radio and television, post, telegraph and telephone services, aviation, shipping, roads, railroads and the like. These are publicly owned and administered by the State. Cooperative companies and enterprises concerned with production and distribution in urban and rural areas form the basis of the cooperative sector and operated in accordance with Shariah law. As of 2012, 5,923 consumer cooperatives, employed 128,396. Consumer cooperatives have over six million members. Private sector operate in construction, agriculture, animal husbandry, industry, trade, and services that supplement the economic activities of the state and cooperative sectors.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Since Article 44 has never been strictly enforced, the private sector has played a much larger role than that outlined in the constitution. In recent years, the role of this sector has increased. A 2004 constitutional amendment allows 80% of state assets to be privatized. Forty percent of such sales are to be conducted through the "Justice Shares" scheme and the rest through the Tehran Stock Exchange. The government would retain the remaining 20%. In 2005, government assets were estimated at around $120 billion. Some $63 billion of such assets were privatized from 2005 to 2010, reducing the government's direct share of GDP from 80% to 40%. Many companies in Iran remain uncompetitive because of mismanagement over the years, thus making privatization less attractive for potential investors. According to then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, 60% of Iran's wealth is controlled by just 300 people.


title: Economy of Iran

text: The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) are thought to control about one third of Iran's economy through subsidiaries and trusts. Estimates by the "Los Angeles Times" suggest IRGC has ties to over one hundred companies and annual revenue in excess of $12 billion, particularly in construction. The Ministry of Petroleum awarded IRGC billions of dollars in no-bid contracts as well as major infrastructure projects. Tasked with border control, IRGC maintains a monopoly on smuggling, costing Iranian companies billions of dollars each year. Smuggling is encouraged in part by the generous subsidization of domestic goods (including fuel). IRGC also runs the telecommunication company, laser eye-surgery clinics, makes cars, builds bridges and roads and develops oil and gas fields.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Welfare programs for the needy are managed by more than 30 public agencies alongside semi-state organizations known as "bonyads", together with several private non-governmental organizations. "Bonyads" are a consortium of over 120 tax-exempt organizations that receive subsidies and religious donations. They answer directly to the Supreme Leader of Iran and control over 20% of GDP. Operating everything from vast soybean and cotton farms to hotels, soft drink, automobile manufacturing, and shipping lines, they are seen as overstaffed, corrupt and generally unprofitable. "Bonyad" companies also compete with Iran's unprotected private sector, whose firms complain of the difficulty of competing with the subsidized "bonyads". "Bonyads" are not subject to audit or Iran's accounting laws. "Setad" is a multi-sector business organization, with holdings of 37 companies, and an estimated value of $95 billion. It is under the control of the Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, and created from thousands of properties confiscated from Iranians.


title: Economy of Iran

text: After the revolution, the government established a national education system that improved adult literacy rates: as of 2008 85% of the adult population was literate, well ahead of the regional average of 62%. The Human Development Index was 0.749 in 2013, placing Iran in the "high human development" bracket.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Annual economic growth of above 5% is necessary to absorb the 750,000 new labor force entrants each year. Agriculture contributes just 10% to GDP and employs 16% of the labor force. As of 2017 the industrial sector, which includes mining, manufacturing, and construction, contributed 35% of GDP and employed 35% of the labor force. Mineral products, notably petroleum, account for 80% of Iran's export revenues, even though mining employs less than 1% of the labor force. In 2004 the service sector ranked as the largest contributor to GDP (48%) and employed 44% of workers. Women made up 33% of the labor force in 2005. Youth unemployment (aged 15–24) was 29.1% in 2012, resulting in significant brain drain. According to the government, some 40% of the workforce in the public sector are either in excess or incompetent.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Iran is classed as a middle income country and has made significant progress in provision of health and education services in the period covered by the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In 2010, Iran's average monthly income was about $500 (GNI per capita in 2012: $13,000 by PPP). A minimum national wage applies to each sector of activity as defined by the Supreme Labor Council. In 2009 this was about $263 per month ($3,156 per year). The World Bank reported that in 2001, approximately 20% of household consumption was spent on food, 32% on fuel, 12% on health care and 8% on education. Iranians have little debt. Seventy percent of Iranians own their homes.


title: Economy of Iran

text: According to the Statistical Center of Iran, median household income of Iran in the fiscal year of 2018–2019 was 434,905,000 rials (a bit above $3,300), an 18.6% rise from the previous yearlong period of 2017–2018, where median household income was about 366,700,000 rials. Adjusted for purchasing power parity, Iran's 2017–2018 median income was equivalent to about $28,647 (2017 conversion factor, private consumption, LCU). As the average Iranian household size is 3.5, this puts median personal income at around $8,185. While Iran rates relatively well on income, median wealth is very low for its income level (on par with Vietnam or Djibouti), indicating a high level of spending. According to SCI, median household spending in the FY 2018 was 393,227,000 rials, or 90.5% of the median household income of 434,905,000 rials.


title: Economy of Iran

text: After the Revolution, the composition of the middle class in Iran did not change significantly, but its size doubled from about 15% of the population in 1979 to more than 32% in 2000. The official poverty line in Tehran for the year ending March 20, 2008, was $9,612, while the national average poverty line was $4,932. In 2010, Iran's Department of Statistics announced that 10 million Iranians live under the absolute poverty line and 30 million live under the relative poverty line.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Although Iran does not offer universal social protection, in 1996, the Iranian Center for Statistics estimated that more than 73% of the Iranian population was covered by social security. Membership of the social security system for all employees is compulsory.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Social security ensures employee protection against unemployment, disease, old age and occupational accidents. In 2003, the government began to consolidate its welfare organizations to eliminate redundancy and inefficiency. In 2003 the minimum standard pension was 50% of the worker's earnings but no less than the minimum wage. Iran spent 22.5% of its 2003 national budget on social welfare programs of which more than 50% covered pension costs. Out of the 15,000 homeless in Iran in 2015, 5,000 were women.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Employees between the age of 18 and 65 years are covered by the social security system with financing shared between the employee (7% of salary), the employer (20–23%) and the state, which in turn supplements the employer contribution up to 3%. Social security applies to self-employed workers, who voluntarily contribute between 12% and 18% of income depending on the protection sought. Civil servants, the regular military, law enforcement agencies, and IRGC have their own pension systems.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Although Iranian workers have a theoretical right to form labor unions, there is no union system in the country. Ostensible worker representation is provided by the Workers' House, a state-sponsored institution that attempts to challenge some state policies. Guild unions operate locally in most areas, but are limited largely to issuing credentials and licenses. The right to strike is generally not respected by the state. Since 1979 strikes have often been met by police action.


title: Economy of Iran

text: A comprehensive law covers labor relations, including hiring of foreign workers. This provides a broad and inclusive definition of the individuals it covers, recognizing written, oral, temporary and indefinite employment contracts. Considered employee-friendly, the labor law makes it difficult to lay off staff. Employing personnel on consecutive six-month contracts (to avoid paying benefits) is illegal, as is dismissing staff without proof of a serious offense. Labor disputes are settled by a special labor council, which usually rules in favor of the employee.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Agriculture contributes 9.5% to the gross domestic product and employs 17% of the labor force. About 9% of Iran's land is arable, with the main food-producing areas located in the Caspian region and in northwestern valleys. Some northern and western areas support rain-fed agriculture, while others require irrigation.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Primitive farming methods, overworked and under-fertilized soil, poor seed and water scarcity are the principal obstacles to increased production. About one third of total cultivated land is irrigated. Construction of multipurpose dams and reservoirs along rivers in the Zagros and Alborz mountains have increased the amount of water available for irrigation. Agricultural production is increasing as a result of modernization, mechanization, improvements to crops and livestock as well as land redistribution programs.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Wheat, the most important crop, is grown mainly in the west and northwest. Rice is the major crop in the Caspian region. Other crops include barley, corn, cotton, sugar beets, tea, hemp, tobacco, fruits, potatoes, legumes (beans and lentils), vegetables, fodder plants (alfalfa and clover), almonds, walnuts and spices including cumin and sumac. Iran is the world's largest producer of saffron, pistachios, honey, berberis and berries and the second largest date producer. Meat and dairy products include lamb, goat meat, beef, poultry, milk, eggs, butter, and cheese.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Non-food products include wool, leather, and silk. Forestry products from the northern slopes of the Alborz Mountains are economically important. Tree-cutting is strictly controlled by the government, which also runs a reforestation program. Rivers drain into the Caspian Sea and are fished for salmon, carp, trout, pike, and sturgeon that produce caviar, of which Iran is the largest producer.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Since the 1979 revolution, commercial farming has replaced subsistence farming as the dominant mode of agricultural production. By 1997, the gross value reached $25 billion. Iran is 90% self-sufficient in essential agricultural products, although limited rice production leads to substantial imports. In 2007 Iran reached self-sufficiency in wheat production and for the first time became a net wheat exporter. By 2003, a quarter of Iran's non-oil exports were of agricultural products, including fresh and dried fruits, nuts, animal hides, processed foods, and spices. Iran exported $736 million worth of foodstuffs in 2007 and $1 billion (~600,000 tonnes) in 2010. A total of 12,198 entities are engaged in the Iranian food industry, or 12% of all entities in the industry sector. The sector also employs approximately 328,000 people or 16.1% of the


title: Economy of Iran

text: Large-scale factory manufacturing began in the 1920s. During the Iran–Iraq War, Iraq bombed many of Iran's petrochemical plants, damaging the large oil refinery at Abadan bringing production to a halt. Reconstruction began in 1988 and production resumed in 1993. In spite of the war, many small factories sprang up to produce import-substitution goods and materials needed by the military.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Iran's major manufactured products are petrochemicals, steel and copper products. Other important manufactures include automobiles, home and electric appliances, telecommunications equipment, cement and industrial machinery. Iran operates the largest operational population of industrial robots in West Asia. Other products include paper, rubber products, processed foods, leather products and pharmaceuticals. In 2000, textile mills, using domestic cotton and wool such as "Tehran Patou" and "Iran Termeh" employed around 400,000 people around Tehran, Isfahan and along the Caspian coast.


title: Economy of Iran

text: A 2003 report by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization regarding small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) identified the following impediments to industrial development:


title: Economy of Iran

text: Despite these problems, Iran has progressed in various scientific and technological fields, including petrochemical, pharmaceutical, aerospace, defense, and heavy industry. Even in the face of economic sanctions, Iran is emerging as an industrialized country.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Iran has a long tradition of producing artisanal goods including Persian carpets, ceramics, copperware, brassware, glass, leather goods, textiles and wooden artifacts. The country's carpet-weaving tradition dates from pre-Islamic times and remains an important industry contributing substantial amounts to rural incomes. An estimated 1.2 million weavers in Iran produce carpets for domestic and international export markets. More than $500 million worth of hand-woven carpets are exported each year, accounting for 30% of the 2008 world market. Around 5.2 million people work in some 250 handicraft fields and contribute 3% of GDP.


title: Economy of Iran

text: As of 2001, 13 public and privately owned automakers within Iran, led by Iran Khodro and Saipa that accounted for 94% of domestic production. Iran Khodro's Paykan, replaced by the Samand in 2005, is the predominant brand. With 61% of the 2001 market, Khodro was the largest player, whilst Saipa contributed 33% that year. Other car manufacturers, such as the Bahman Group, Kerman Motors, Kish Khodro, Raniran, Traktorsazi, Shahab Khodro and others accounted for the remaining 6%. These automakers produce a wide range of vehicles including motorbikes, passenger cars such as Saipa's Tiba, vans, mini trucks, medium-sized trucks, heavy trucks, minibuses, large buses and other heavy automobiles used for commercial and private activities in the country. In 2009 Iran ranked fifth in car production growth after China, Taiwan, Romania and India. Iran was the world's 12th biggest automaker in 2010 and operates a fleet of 11.5 million cars. Iran produced 1,395,421 cars in 2010, including 35,901 commercial vehicles.


title: Economy of Iran

text: In 2007 the International Institute for Strategic Studies estimated Iran's defense budget at $7.31 billion, equivalent to 2.6% of GDP or $102 per capita, ranking it 25th internationally. The country's defense industry manufactures many types of arms and equipment. Since 1992, Iran's Defense Industries Organization (DIO) has produced its own tanks, armored personnel carriers, guided missiles, radar systems, guided missile destroyers, military vessels, submarines and fighter planes. In 2006 Iran exported weapons to 57 countries, including NATO members, and exports reached $100 million. It has also developed a sophisticated mobile air defense system dubbed as Bavar 373.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Until the early 1950s construction remained in the hands of small domestic companies. Increased income from oil and gas and easy credit triggered a building boom that attracted international construction firms to the country. This growth continued until the mid-1970s when a sharp rise in inflation and a credit squeeze collapsed the boom. The construction industry had revived somewhat by the mid-1980s, although housing shortages and speculation remained serious problems, especially in large urban centers. As of January 2011, the banking sector, particularly Bank Maskan, had loaned up to 102 trillion rials ($10.2 billion) to applicants of Mehr housing scheme. Construction is one of the most important sectors accounting for 20–50% of total private investment in urban areas and was one of the prime investment targets of well-off Iranians.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Annual turnover amounted to $38.4 billion in 2005 and $32.8 billion in 2011. Because of poor construction quality, many buildings need seismic reinforcement or renovation. Iran has a large dam building industry.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Mineral production contributed 0.6% of the country's GDP in 2011, a figure that increases to 4% when mining-related industries are included. Gating factors include poor infrastructure, legal barriers, exploration difficulties, and government control over all resources. Iran is ranked among the world's 15 major mineral-rich countries.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Although the petroleum industry provides the majority of revenue, about 75% of all mining sector employees work in mines producing minerals other than oil and natural gas. These include coal, iron ore, copper, lead, zinc, chromium, barite, salt, gypsum, molybdenum, strontium, silica, uranium, and gold, the latter of which is mainly a by-product of the Sar Cheshmeh copper complex operation. The mine at Sar Cheshmeh in Kerman Province is home to the world's second largest store of copper.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Large iron ore deposits exist in central Iran, near Bafq, Yazd and Kerman. The government owns 90% of all mines and related industries and is seeking foreign investment. The sector accounts for 3% of exports.


title: Economy of Iran

text: In 2019, the country was the 2nd largest world producer of gypsum; the 8th largest world producer of molybdenum; the world's 8th largest producer of antimony; the 11th largest world producer of iron ore; the 18th largest world producer of sulfur, in addition to being the 21st largest worldwide producer of salt. It was the 13th largest producer in the world of uranium in 2018.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Iran has recoverable coal reserves of nearly 1.9 billion short tonnes. By mid-2008, the country produced about 1.3 million short tonnes of coal annually and consumed about 1.5 million short tonnes, making it a net importer. The country plans to increase hard-coal production to 5 million tons in 2012 from 2 million tons in November 2008.


title: Economy of Iran

text: The main steel mills are located in Isfahan and Khuzestan. Iran became self-sufficient in steel in 2009. Aluminum and copper production are projected to hit 245,000 and 383,000 tons respectively by March 2009. Cement production reached 65 million tons in 2009, exporting to 40 countries.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Iran manufactures 60–70% of its equipment domestically, including refineries, oil tankers, drilling rigs, offshore platforms, and exploration instruments.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Based on a fertilizer plant in Shiraz, the world's largest ethylene unit, in Asalouyeh, and the completion of other special economic zone projects, Iran's exports in petrochemicals reached $5.5 billion in 2007, $9 billion in 2008 and $7.6 billion during the first ten months of the Iranian calendar year 2010. National Petrochemical Company's output capacity will increase to over 100 million tpa by 2015 from an estimated 50 million tpa in 2010 thus becoming the world' second largest chemical producer globally after Dow Chemical with Iran housing some of the world's largest chemical complexes.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Major refineries located at Abadan (site of its first refinery), Kermanshah and Tehran failed to meet domestic demand for gasoline in 2009. Iran's refining industry requires $15 billion in investment over the period 2007–2012 to become self-sufficient and end gasoline imports. Iran has the fifth cheapest gasoline prices in the world leading to fuel smuggling with neighboring countries.


title: Economy of Iran

text: In November 2019, Iran raised the gasoline prices by 50% and imposed a strict rationing system again (as in 2007). The prices per liter gasoline rose to 15,000 rials, where only 60 liters were permitted to private cars for a month. Besides, oil purchase beyond the limit would cost 30,000 rials per liter. Those prices are still well below target prices set in the subsidy reform plan, however. The policy changes came in effect to the US sanctions, and caused protests across the country. The result of the rationing, a year later, was reduced pollution and wasteful domestic consumption and increase in exports.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Despite 1990s efforts towards economic liberalization, government spending, including expenditure by quasi-governmental foundations, remains high. Estimates of service sector spending in Iran are regularly more than two-fifths of GDP, much government-related, including military expenditures, government salaries, and social security disbursements. Urbanization contributed to service sector growth. Important service industries include public services (including education), commerce, personal services, professional services and tourism.


title: Economy of Iran

text: The total value of transport and communications is expected to rise to $46 billion in nominal terms by 2013, representing 6.8% of Iran's GDP. Projections based on 1996 employment figures compiled for the International Labour Organization suggest that Iran's transport and communications sector employed 3.4 million people, or 20.5% of the labor force in 2008.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Iran possesses 10% of the world's proven oil reserves and 15% of its gas reserves. Domestic oil and gas along with hydroelectric power facilities provide power. Energy wastage in Iran amounts to six or seven billion dollars per year, much higher than the international norm. Iran recycles 28% of its used oil and gas, whereas some other countries reprocess up to 60%. In 2008 Iran paid $84 billion in subsidies for oil, gas and electricity. It is the world's third largest consumer of natural gas after United States and Russia. In 2010 Iran completed its first nuclear power plant at Bushehr with Russian assistance.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Iran has been a major oil exporter since 1913. The country's major oil fields lie in the central and southwestern parts of the western Zagros mountains. Oil is also found in northern Iran and in the Persian Gulf. In 1978, Iran was the fourth largest oil producer, OPEC's second largest oil producer and second largest exporter. Following the 1979 revolution the new government reduced production. A further decline in production occurred as result of damage to oil facilities during the Iraq-Iran war. Oil production rose in the late 1980s as pipelines were repaired and new Gulf fields exploited. By 2004, annual oil production reached 1.4 billion barrels producing a net profit of $50 billion. Iranian Central Bank data show a declining trend in the share of Iranian exports from oil-products (FY 2006: 84.9%, 2007/2008: 86.5%, 2008/2009: 85.5%, 2009/2010: 79.8%, FY 2010 (first three quarters): 78.9%). Iranian officials estimate that Iran's annual oil and gas revenues could reach $250 billion by 2015 once current projects come on stream.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Pipelines move oil from the fields to the refineries and to such exporting ports as Abadan, Bandar-e Mashur and Kharg Island. Since 1997, Iran's state-owned oil and gas industry has entered into major exploration and production agreements with foreign consortia. In 2008 the Iranian Oil Bourse (IOB) was inaugurated in Kish Island. The IOB trades petroleum, petrochemicals and gas in various currencies. Trading is primarily in the euro and rial along with other major currencies, not including the US dollar. According to the Petroleum Ministry, Iran plans to invest $500 billion in its oil sector by 2025.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Iran's retail industry consists largely of cooperatives (many of them government-sponsored), and independent retailers operating in bazaars. The bulk of food sales occur at street markets with prices set by the Chief Statistics Bureau. Iran has 438,478 small grocery retailers. These are especially popular in cities other than Tehran where the number of hypermarkets and supermarkets is still very limited. More mini-markets and supermarkets are emerging, mostly independent operations. The biggest chainstores are state-owned Etka, Refah, Shahrvand and Hyperstar Market. Electronic commerce in Iran passed the $1 billion mark in 2009.


title: Economy of Iran

text: In 2012, Iranians spent $77 billion on food, $22 billion on clothes and $18.5 billion on outward tourism. In 2015, overall consumer spending and disposable income are projected at $176.4 billion and $287 billion respectively.


title: Economy of Iran

text: The constitution entitles Iranians to basic health care. By 2008, 73% of Iranians were covered by the voluntary national health insurance system. Although over 85% of the population use an insurance system to cover their drug expenses, the government heavily subsidizes pharmaceutical production/importation. The total market value of Iran's health and medical sector was $24 billion in 2002 and was forecast to rise to $50 billion by 2013. In 2006, 55 pharmaceutical companies in Iran produced 96% (quantitatively) of the medicines for a market worth $1.2 billion. This figure is projected to increase to $3.65 billion by 2013.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Although tourism declined significantly during the war with Iraq, it has subsequently recovered. About 1,659,000 foreign tourists visited Iran in 2004 and 2.3 million in 2009 mostly from Asian countries, including the republics of Central Asia, while about 10% came from the European Union and North America.


title: Economy of Iran

text: The most popular tourist destinations are Mazandaran, Isfahan, Mashhad and Shiraz. In the early 2000s the industry faced serious limitations in infrastructure, communications, industry standards and personnel training. Several organized tours from Germany, France and other European countries come to Iran annually to visit archaeological sites and monuments. In 2003 Iran ranked 68th in tourism revenues worldwide. According to UNESCO and the deputy head of research for Iran Travel and Tourism Organization (ITTO), Iran is rated among the "10 most touristic countries in the world". Domestic tourism in Iran is one of the largest in the world.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Government loans and credits are available to industrial and agricultural projects, primarily through banks. Iran's unit of currency is the rial which had an average official exchange rate of 9,326 rials to the U.S. dollar in 2007. Rials are exchanged on the unofficial market at a higher rate. In 1979, the government nationalized private banks. The restructured banking system replaced interest on loans with handling fees, in accordance with Islamic law. This system took effect in the mid-1980s.


title: Economy of Iran

text: The banking system consists of a central bank, the Bank Markazi, which issues currency and oversees all state and private banks. Several commercial banks have branches throughout the country. Two development banks exist and a housing bank specializes in home mortgages. The government began to privatize the banking sector in 2001 when licenses were issued to two new privately owned banks.


title: Economy of Iran

text: State-owned commercial banks predominantly make loans to the state, "bonyad" enterprises, large-scale private firms and four thousand wealthy/connected individuals. While most Iranians have difficulty obtaining small home loans, 90 individuals secured facilities totaling $8 billion. In 2009, Iran's General Inspection Office announced that Iranian banks held some $38 billion of delinquent loans, with capital of only $20 billion.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Foreign transactions with Iran amounted to $150 billion of major contracts between 2000 and 2007, including private and government lines of credit. In 2007, Iran had $62 billion in assets abroad. In 2010, Iran attracted almost $11.9 billion from abroad, of which $3.6 billion was FDI, $7.4 billion was from international commercial bank loans, and around $900 million consisted of loans and projects from international development banks.


title: Economy of Iran

text: As of 2010, the Tehran Stock Exchange traded the shares of more than 330 registered companies. Listed companies were valued at $100 billion in 2011.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Insurance premiums accounted for just under 1% of GDP in 2008, a figure partly attributable to low average income per head. Five state-owned insurance firms dominate the market, four of which are active in commercial insurance. The leading player is the Iran Insurance Company, followed by Asia, Alborz and Dana insurances. In 2001/02 third-party liability insurance accounted for 46% of premiums, followed by health insurance (13%), fire insurance (10%) and life insurance (9.9%).


title: Economy of Iran

text: Broadcast media, including five national radio stations and five national television networks as well as dozens of local radio and television stations are run by the government. In 2008, there were 345 telephone lines and 106 personal computers for every 1,000 residents. Personal computers for home use became more affordable in the mid-1990s, since when demand for Internet access has increased rapidly. As of 2010, Iran also had the world's third largest number of bloggers (2010). In 1998, the Ministry of Post, Telegraph & Telephone (later renamed the Ministry of Information & Communication Technology) began selling Internet accounts to the general public. In 2006, revenues from the Iranian telecom industry were estimated at $1.2 billion. In 2006, Iran had 1,223 Internet Service Providers (ISPs), all private sector operated. As of 2014, Iran has the largest mobile market in the Middle East, with 83.2 million mobile subscriptions and 8 million smart-phones in 2012.


title: Economy of Iran

text: According to the World Bank, Iran's information and communications technology sector had a 1.4% share of GDP in 2008. Around 150,000 people work in this sector, including 20,000 in the software industry. 1,200 IT companies were registered in 2002, 200 in software development. In 2014 software exports stood at $400 million. By the end of 2009, Iran's telecom market was the fourth-largest in the Middle East at $9.2 billion and was expected to reach $12.9 billion by 2014 at a compound annual growth rate of 6.9%.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Iran has an extensive paved road system linking most towns and all cities. In 2011, the country had of roads, of which 73% were paved. In 2007 there were approximately 100 passenger cars for every 1,000 inhabitants. Trains operated on of track.


title: Economy of Iran

text: The country's major port of entry is Bandar-Abbas on the Strait of Hormuz. After arriving in Iran, imported goods are distributed by trucks and freight trains. The Tehran–Bandar-Abbas railroad, opened in 1995, connects Bandar-Abbas to Central Asia via Tehran and Mashhad. Other major ports include Bandar Anzali and Bandar Torkaman on the Caspian Sea and Khoramshahr and Bandar Imam Khomeini on the Persian Gulf. Dozens of cities have passenger and cargo airports. Iran Air, the national airline, was founded in 1962 and operates domestic and international flights. All large cities have bus transit systems and private companies provide intercity bus services. Tehran, Mashhad, Shiraz, Tabriz, Ahvaz and Isfahan are constructing underground railways. More than one million people work in the transportation sector, accounting for 9% of 2008 GDP.


title: Economy of Iran

text: In August 2022, President Ebrahim Raisi’s cabinet approved a law to import fully assembled foreign cars. His predecessor President Hassan Rouhani, had outlawed such imports in July 2018 due to sanctions imposed on Iran. Regular Iranian citizens were unable to buy safe cars at affordable prices.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Iran is a founding member of OPEC and the Organization of Gas Exporting Countries. Petroleum constitutes 56% of Iran's exports with a value of $60.2 billion in 2018. For the first time, the value of Iran's non-oil exports is expected to reach the value of imports at $43 billion in 2011. Pistachios, liquefied propane, methanol (methyl alcohol), hand-woven carpets and automobiles are the major non-oil exports. Copper, cement, leather, textiles, fruits, saffron and caviar are also export items of Iran.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Technical and engineering service exports in FY 2007 were $2.7 billion of which 40% of technical services went to Central Asia and the Caucasus, 30% ($350 million) to Iraq, and close to 20% ($205 million) to Africa.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Iranian firms have developed energy, pipelines, irrigation, dams and power generation in different countries. The country has made non-oil exports a priority by expanding its broad industrial base, educated and motivated workforce and favorable location, which gives it proximity to an estimated market of some 300 million people in Caspian, Persian Gulf and some ECO countries further east.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Total import volume rose by 189% from $13.7 billion in 2000 to $39.7 billion in 2005 and $55.189 billion in 2009. Iran's major commercial partners are China, India, South Korea, Germany, Japan, France, Russia and Italy. From 1950 until 1978, the United States was Iran's foremost economic and military partner, playing a major role in infrastructure and industry modernization. It is reported that around 80% of machinery and equipment in Iran is of German origin. In July 2018, France, Germany and UK agreed to continue trade with Iran without using Dollar as a medium of exchange. In March 2018, Iran had banned Dollar in trade.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Since the mid-1990s, Iran has increased its economic cooperation with other developing countries in "south-south integration" including Syria, India, China, South Africa, Cuba and Venezuela. Iran's trade with India passed $13 billion in 2007, an 80% increase within a year. Iran is expanding its trade ties with Turkey and Pakistan and shares with its partners the common objective to create a common market in West and Central Asia through ECO.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Since 2003, Iran has increased investment in neighboring countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan. In Dubai, UAE, it is estimated that Iranian expatriates handle over 20% of its domestic economy and account for an equal proportion of its population. Migrant Iranian workers abroad remitted less than $2 billion home in 2006. Between 2005 and 2009, trade between Dubai and Iran tripled to $12 billion; money invested in the local real estate market and import-export businesses, collectively known as the "Bazaar", and geared towards providing Iran and other countries with required consumer goods. It is estimated that one third of Iran's imported goods and exports are delivered through the black market, underground economy, and illegal jetties, thus damaging the economy.


title: Economy of Iran

text: In the 1990s and early 2000s, indirect oilfield development agreements were made with foreign firms, including buyback contracts in the oil sector whereby the contractor provided project finance in return for an allocated production share. Operation transferred to National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) after a set number of years, completing the contract.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Unfavorable or complex operating requirements and international sanctions have hindered foreign investment in the country, despite liberalization of relevant regulations in the early 2000s. Iran absorbed $24.3 billion of foreign investment between the Iranian calendar years 1993 and 2007. The EIU estimates that Iran's net FDI will rise by 100% between 2010 and 2014.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Foreign investors concentrated their activities in the energy, vehicle manufacture, copper mining, construction, utilities, petrochemicals, clothing, food and beverages, telecom and pharmaceuticals sectors. Iran is a member of the World Bank's Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency. In 2006, the combined net worth of Iranian citizens abroad was about 1.3 trillion dollars.


title: Economy of Iran

text: According to the head of the Organization for Investment, Economic and Technical Assistance of Iran (OIETAI), in 2008 Iran ranked 142 among 181 countries in working conditions. Iran stands at number 96 in terms of business start-ups, 165 in obtaining permits, 147 in employment, 147 in asset registration, 84 in obtaining credit, 164 in legal support for investments, 104 in tax payments, 142 in overseas trade, 56 in contract feasibility and 107 in bankruptcy. Firms from over 50 countries invested in Iran between 1992 and 2008, with Asia and Europe the largest participants as shown below:


title: Economy of Iran

text: The economic impact of a partial lifting of sanctions extends beyond the energy sector; "The New York Times" reported that "consumer-oriented companies, in particular, could find opportunity in this country with 81 million consumers, many of whom are young and prefer Western products". The consumer-goods market is expected to grow by $100 billion by 2020. Iran is considered "a strong emerging market play" by investment and trading firms. Opening Iran's market place to foreign investment could also be a boon to competitive multinational firms operating in a variety of manufacturing and service sectors, worth $600 billion to $800 billion in new investment opportunities over the next decade.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Iran has held observer status at the World Trade Organization (WTO) since 2005. Although the United States has consistently blocked its bid to join the organization, observer status came in a goodwill gesture to ease nuclear negotiations between Iran and the international community. With exports of 60 products with revealed comparative advantage, Iran is the 65th "most complex country".


title: Economy of Iran

text: Should Iran eventually gain membership status in the WTO, among other prerequisites, copyrights will have to be enforced in the country. This will require a major overhaul. The country is hoping to attract billions of dollars' worth of foreign investment by creating a more favorable investment climate through freer trade. Free trade zones such as Qeshm, Chabahar, and Kish Island are expected to assist in this process. Iran allocated $20 billion in 2010 to loans for the launch of twenty trade centers in other countries.


title: Economy of Iran

text: After the Iranian Revolution in 1979, the United States ended its economic and diplomatic ties with Iran, banned Iranian oil imports and froze approximately $11 billion of its assets. In 1996, the U.S. Government passed the Iran and Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA) which prohibits U.S. (and non-U.S.) companies from investing and trading with Iran in amounts of more than $20 million annually. Since 2000 exceptions to this restriction have been made for items including pharmaceuticals and medical equipment.


title: Economy of Iran

text: Iran's nuclear program has been the subject of contention with the West since 2006 over suspicions of its intentions. The UN Security Council imposed sanctions against select companies linked to the nuclear program, thus furthering the country's economic isolation. The economic effects of sanctions have been severe. Sanctions notably bar nuclear, missile and many military exports to Iran and target investments in oil, gas and petrochemicals, exports of refined petroleum products, as well as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, banks, insurance, financial transactions and shipping. In 2012 the European Union tightened its own sanctions by joining the three decade-old US oil embargo against Iran. In 2015, Iran and the P5+1 reached a deal on the nuclear program that will remove the main sanctions by early 2016. Even though Iran can trade in its own currency some problems subsist mainly due to the fact that it cannot transact in US dollars freely.


title: Economy of Iran

text: In 2018, the United States government unilaterally withdrew from the JCPOA agreement and re-imposed its sanctions on Iran's oil sales, petrochemicals, shipping, metals trading and banking transactions.


title: Economy of Iran

text: According to U.S. Undersecretary of State William J. Burns, Iran may be losing as much as $60 billion annually in energy investment. Sanctions are making imports 24% more costly on average. In addition, the latest round of sanctions could cost Iran annually $50 billion in lost oil revenues. Iran is increasingly using barter trade because its access to the international dollar payment system has been denied. According to Iranian officials, large-scale withdrawal by international companies represents an "opportunity" for domestic companies to replace them.


title: Economy of Iran

text: The IEA estimated that Iranian exports fell to a record of 860,000 bpd in September 2012 from 2.2 million bpd at the end of 2011. This fall led to a drop in revenues and clashes on the streets of Tehran when the local currency, the rial, collapsed. September 2012 output was Iran's lowest since 1988.


title: Economy of Iran

text: According to the U.S. Iran could reduce the world price of crude petroleum by 10%, saving the United States annually $76 billion (at the proximate 2008 world oil price of $100/bbl).


title: Economy of Iran

text: According to NIAC, sanctions cost the United States over $175 billion in lost trade and 279,000 lost job opportunities. Between 2010 and 2012, sanctions cost the E.U. states more than twice as much as the United States in terms of lost trade revenue. Germany was hit the hardest, losing between $23.1 and $73.0 billion between 2010–2012, with Italy and France following at $13.6-$42.8 billion and $10.9-$34.2 billion respectively.


title: Economy of Iran

text: GDP growth turned negative in 2013 (−5%). The unofficial unemployment rate was 20% by mid-2012. Oil exports dropped to 1.4 million bpd in 2014 from 2.5 million bpd in 2011. By 2013, Iran had $80 billion in foreign exchange reserves frozen overseas. Automobile production declined 40% between 2011 and 2013. According to the U.S. government in 2015, Iran's economy has reached a point where it is "fundamentally incapable of recovery" without a nuclear accommodation with the West.


title: Economy of Iran

text: The tentative rapprochement between Iran and the US, which began in the second half of 2013, has the potential to become a world-changing development, and unleash tremendous geopolitical and economic opportunities, if it is sustained […] if Iran and the US were to achieve a diplomatic breakthrough, geopolitical tensions in the Middle East could decline sharply, and Iran could come to be perceived as a promising emerging market in its own right.


title: Economy of Iran

text: In January 2019, President Hassan Rouhani blamed the US for Iran's declining economy. Following the US pullout from an international nuclear deal with Iran and re-imposed sanctions, Iran faced the toughest economic situation in 40 years. According to Majlis, this has caused damages estimated between 150 and 200 billion dollars to the Iranian economy.


title: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

text: "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is a gothic story by American author Washington Irving, contained in his collection of 34 essays and short stories titled "The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent." Written while Irving was living abroad in Birmingham, England. "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" was first published in 1819. Along with Irving's companion piece "Rip Van Winkle", "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is among the earliest examples of American fiction with enduring popularity, especially during Halloween because of a character known as the Headless Horseman believed to be a Hessian soldier who was decapitated by a cannonball in battle. In 1949, the second film adaptation was produced by Walt Disney as one of two segments in the package film "The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad".


title: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

text: The story is set in 1790 in the countryside around the Dutch settlement of Tarry Town (historical Tarrytown, New York), in a secluded glen known as Sleepy Hollow. Sleepy Hollow is renowned for its ghosts and the haunting atmosphere that pervades the imaginations of its inhabitants and visitors. Some residents say this town was bewitched during the early days of the Dutch settlement, while others claim that the mysterious atmosphere was caused by an old Native American chief, the "wizard of his tribe ... before the country was discovered by Master Hendrik Hudson." Residents of the town are seemingly subjected to various supernatural and mysterious occurrences. They are subjected to trance-like visions and frequented by strange sights, music, and voices "in the air." The inhabitants of Sleepy Hollow are fascinated by the "local tales, haunted spots, and twilight superstitions" on account of the mysterious occurrences and haunting atmosphere. The most infamous spectre in the Hollow, and the "commander-in-chief of all the powers of the air," is the Headless Horseman. He is supposedly the restless ghost of a Hessian trooper whose head had been shot off by a stray cannonball during "some nameless battle" of the Revolution, and who "rides forth to the scene of battle in nightly quest of his head".


title: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

text: The "Legend" relates the tale of Ichabod Crane, a lean, lanky and extremely superstitious schoolmaster from Connecticut. Throughout his stay at Sleepy Hollow, Crane is able to make himself both "useful and agreeable" to the families that he lodges with. He occasionally assists with light farm work, helping to make hay, mend fences, caring for numerous farm animals, and cutting firewood. Besides his more dominant role as the Schoolmaster, Ichabod Crane also assists the various mothers of the town by helping to take care of their young children, taking on a more "gentle and ingratiating" role. Crane is also quite popular among the women of the town for his education and his talent for "carrying the whole budget of local gossip," which makes him a welcomed sight within female circles. As a firm believer in witchcraft and the like, Crane has an unequaled "appetite for the marvelous," which is only increased by his stay in "the spell-bound region" of Sleepy Hollow. A source of "fearful pleasure" for Crane is to visit the Old Dutch wives and listen to their "marvelous tales of ghosts and goblins," haunted locations, and the tales of the Headless Horseman, or the "Galloping Hessian of the Hollow, as they sometimes called him."


title: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

text: Throughout the story, Ichabod Crane competes with Abraham "Brom Bones" Van Brunt, the town rowdy and local hero, for the hand of 18-year-old Katrina Van Tassel, the daughter and sole child of wealthy farmer Baltus Van Tassel. Ichabod Crane, an outsider, sees marriage to Katrina as a means of procuring Van Tassel's extravagant wealth. Brom, unable to force Ichabod into a physical showdown to settle things, plays a series of pranks on the superstitious schoolmaster. The tension among the three continues for some time, and is soon brought to a head. On a placid autumn night, the ambitious Crane attends a harvest party at the Van Tassels' homestead. He dances, partakes in the feast, and listens to ghostly legends told by Brom and the locals, but his true aim is to propose to Katrina after the guests leave. His intentions, however, are ill-fated, as he fails to secure Katrina's hand.


title: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

text: Following his rejected suit, Ichabod rides home on his temperamental plough horse named Gunpowder, "heavy-hearted and crestfallen" through the woods between Van Tassel's farmstead and the farmhouse in Sleepy Hollow where he is quartered at the time. As he passes several purportedly haunted spots, his active imagination is engorged by the ghost stories told at Baltus' harvest party. After nervously passing a lightning-stricken tulip tree purportedly haunted by the ghost of British spy Major André, Ichabod encounters a cloaked rider at an intersection in a menacing swamp. Unsettled by his fellow traveller's eerie size and silence, the teacher is horrified to discover that his companion's head is not on his shoulders, but on his saddle. In a frenzied race to the bridge adjacent to the Old Dutch Burying Ground, where the Hessian is said to "vanish, according to rule, in a flash of fire and brimstone" before crossing it, Ichabod rides for his life, desperately goading Gunpowder down the Hollow. However, while Crane and Gunpowder are able to cross the bridge ahead of the ghoul, Ichabod turns back in horror to see the monster rear his horse and hurl his severed head directly at him with a fierce motion. The schoolmaster attempts to dodge, but is too late; the missile strikes his head and sends him tumbling headlong into the dust from his horse.


title: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

text: The next morning, Gunpowder is found eating the grass at his master's gate, but Ichabod has mysteriously disappeared from the area, leaving Katrina to later marry Brom Bones, who was said "to look exceedingly knowing whenever the story of Ichabod was related". Indeed, the only relics of the schoolmaster's flight are his discarded hat, Gunpowder's trampled saddle, and a mysterious shattered pumpkin. Although the true nature of both the Headless Horseman and Ichabod's disappearance that night are left open to interpretation, the story implies that the Horseman was really Brom (an extremely agile rider) in disguise, using a Jack-o'-lantern as a false head, and suggests that Crane survived the fall from Gunpowder and immediately fled Sleepy Hollow in horror, never to return but to prosper elsewhere, or was killed by Brom (which may be unlikely, since Brom was said to have "more mischief than ill-will in his composition"). Irving's narrator concludes the story, however, by stating that the old Dutch wives continue to promote the belief that Ichabod was "spirited away by supernatural means", and a legend develops around his disappearance and sightings of his melancholy spirit.


title: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

text: In a Postscript (sometimes unused in certain editions), the narrator states the circumstances in which he heard the story from an old gentleman "at a Corporation meeting at the ancient city of Manhattoes", who didn't "believe one-half of it [himself]."


title: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

text: Irving wrote "The Sketch Book" during a tour of Europe, and parts of the tale may also be traced to European origins. Headless horsemen were staples of Northern Europe storytelling, featuring in German, Irish (e.g., Dullahan), Scandinavian (e.g., the Wild Hunt), and British legends, and were included in Robert Burns's Scots poem "Tam o' Shanter" (1790) and Bürger's "Der Wilde Jäger", translated as "The Wild Huntsman" (1796). Usually viewed as omens of ill fortune for those who chose to disregard their apparitions, these specters found their victims in proud, scheming persons and characters with hubris and arrogance. One particularly influential rendition of this folktale was the last of the "" () from J. K. A. Musäus's literary retellings of German folktales (1783).


title: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

text: During the height of the American Revolutionary War, Irving writes that the country surrounding Tarrytown "was one of those highly-favored places which abound with chronicle and great men. The British and American line had run near it during the war; it had, therefore, been the scene of marauding, and infested with refugees, cow-boys, and all kinds of border chivalry."


title: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

text: After the Battle of White Plains in October 1776, the country south of the Bronx River was abandoned by the Continental Army and occupied by the British. The Americans were fortified north of Peekskill, leaving Westchester County a 30-mile stretch of scorched and desolated no-man's-land, vulnerable to outlaws, raiders, and vigilantes. Besides droves of Loyalist rangers and British light infantry, Hessian Jägers—renowned sharpshooters and horsemen—were among the raiders who often skirmished with Patriot militias. The Headless Horseman, said to be a decapitated Hessian soldier, may have indeed been based loosely on the discovery of just such a Jäger's headless corpse found in Sleepy Hollow after a violent skirmish, and later buried by the Van Tassel family, in an unmarked grave in the Old Dutch Burying Ground. The dénouement of the fictional tale is set at the bridge over the Pocantico River in the area of the Old Dutch Church and Burying Ground in Sleepy Hollow.


title: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

text: According to another hypothesis, the figure of the "headless rider" Irving could have been drawn from German literature, and more precisely from the Chronicle of Szprotawa by J.G. Kreis written in the first half of the 19th century. In the nineteenth century, the police counselor Kreis noted that in the eighteenth / twentieth century the inhabitants of this city were afraid to move after dusk on "Hospitalstrasse" (now Sądowa Street) due to the headless rider apparition seen there.


title: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

text: In support of the hypothesis, according to information taken from the work by Z.Sinko entitled "Polish Reception of Washington Irving's Work: Between Enlightenment and Romanticism" from 1988, Walter Scott encouraged Irving to learn German to be able to read stories, ballads and legends in their native language.


title: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

text: Irving, while he was an "aide-de-camp" to New York Governor Daniel D. Tompkins, met an army captain named Ichabod Crane in Sackets Harbor, New York during an inspection tour of fortifications in 1814. Irving may have patterned the character in "The Legend" after Jesse Merwin, who taught at the local schoolhouse in Kinderhook, further north along the Hudson River, where Irving spent several months in 1809. The inspiration for the character of Katrina Van Tassel was based on an actual young woman by that name. Washington Irving had stayed with her family for a short time and asked permission to use her name and loosely base the character on her. He told her and her family, he liked to give his characters the names of people he had met.


title: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

text: The story was the longest one published as part of "The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent." (commonly referred to as "The Sketch Book"), which Irving issued serially throughout 1819 and 1820, using the pseudonym "Geoffrey Crayon". With "Rip Van Winkle", "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is one of Irving's most anthologized, studied, and adapted sketches. Both stories are often paired together in books and other representations, and both are included in surveys of early American literature and Romanticism. Irving's depictions of regional culture and his themes of progress versus tradition, supernatural intervention in the commonplace, and the plight of the individual outsider in a homogeneous community permeate both stories and helped to develop a unique sense of American cultural and existential selfhood during the early 19th century.


title: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

text: On the Far North Coast of New South Wales lies the Sleepy Hollow rest stop. There is a stop located either side of the road so that North- and South-bound traffic is able to stop. The northbound stop is located 58 km north of Ballina and the southbound stop is located 32 km south of Tweed Heads.


title: Rush Hour 3

text: Rush Hour 3 is a 2007 American buddy action comedy film directed by Brett Ratner, written by Jeff Nathanson, and starring Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker, Max von Sydow, Hiroyuki Sanada, Noémie Lenoir, Yvan Attal and Youki Kudoh. It is the third installment in the "Rush Hour" franchise and centers on Inspector Lee (Chan) and Officer Carter (Tucker) tracking an assassin to Paris to unravel a mystery about the Chinese triads. Announced on May 7, 2006, filming began on July 4 on location in Paris and Los Angeles. Released on August 10, 2007, the film received mixed-to-negative reviews from film critics. Despite this, it was a box office success, grossing $258 million worldwide against a $140 million budget.


title: Rush Hour 3

text: Three years after the events of "Rush Hour 2", in 2001, Chinese Ambassador Solon Han, with Hong Kong Police Force Chief Inspector Lee as his bodyguard, addresses the importance of fighting the Triads at the World Criminal Court in Los Angeles. When Han starts to announce the whereabouts of Shy Shen, a semi-mythical individual of great importance to the Chinese mob, an assassin in the building across from them suddenly snipes him, causing an outrageous panic of many people around the streets close to them. Lee corners the shooter, but when he learns that this is his childhood foster brother, Kenji, who shot the ambassador, he hesitates, allowing Kenji to escape just as LAPD Detective James Carter arrives after hearing what happened over the police radio.


title: Rush Hour 3

text: Han is later hospitalized at UCLA Medical Center, surviving the assassination attempt, and Lee and Carter promise his daughter Soo Yung to find the person responsible. She insists they head to the local Kung Fu studio to retrieve an envelope Han left her, but learn from the studio master the Triads took Soo Yung's belongings.


title: Rush Hour 3

text: Lee and Carter return to the hospital and intercept a few French-speaking Chinese hitmen before they can further injure Han. After defeating them, Lee and Carter interrogate one of them with the help of Sister Agnes, a French-speaking nun. For her protection, they take Soo Yung to the French Embassy, leaving her with French ambassador and chairman of the World Criminal Court, Varden Reynard. When Reynard and Soo Yung are nearly killed by a car bomb, Lee and Carter go to Paris to investigate this case further.


title: Rush Hour 3

text: After a painful inspection from Parisian Commissaire Revi, Lee and Carter meet anti-American taxicab driver, George, and force him to drive them to a Triad hideout. While there, Carter meets stage performer Geneviève while Lee is tricked by mob assassin Jasmine, who claims to have information about Shy Shen, and Carter saves Lee from being killed.


title: Rush Hour 3

text: The pair tries to escape, but is ultimately captured by Kenji's men. Kenji says he'll let them live if they leave Paris, but Lee refuses. Following a short struggle, he and Carter successfully escape. They recover and rest at a hotel where they both book themselves a room, and Lee soon reveals his relationship with Kenji and decides to continue alone. A disillusioned Carter leaves, but recomposes himself when he spots and follows Geneviève. Meanwhile, Reynard meets Lee and explains Shy Shen is not a person, but a list of Triad leaders and that Geneviève is Han's informant with access to the list.


title: Rush Hour 3

text: After locating Geneviève and saving her from being killed, the two flee with her to their hotel. They are attacked by Jasmine, but George rescues them out of a newfound admiration for Americans. Geneviève reveals to Lee and Carter that the Triad leaders' names were tattooed on the back of her head and that she will be beheaded when the Triads capture her. Lee and Carter bring her to Reynard and discover he was working with the Triads the entire time. Kenji calls to inform Lee that he has captured Soo Yung and demands he turn over Geneviève.


title: Rush Hour 3

text: Lee arrives at the Eiffel Tower to make the exchange, with Carter disguised as Geneviève with a wig. Kenji challenges Lee to a sword fight, during which the two fall into a safety net. After Kenji's sword cuts the net, Lee tries to save him, but Kenji is touched by Lee's kindness and lets go, falling to his death and devastating Lee. Meanwhile, Carter saves Soo Yung and defeats Jasmine by kicking her into an elevator wheel that crushes her to death. After escaping the remaining Triad members, Carter and Lee are confronted by Reynard, who threatens to kill Geneviève and frame them. However, George shoots Reynard from behind, killing him. As the police arrive, Revi tries to take credit for Lee and Carter's work, but they knock him out and leave with a victory dance to Edwin Starr's "War".


title: Rush Hour 3

text: After the commercial success of the first and second films in the franchise, Tucker received a salary of $25 million, Chan received $15 million, and Ratner $7.5 million. In addition, Chan received 15% of the box office revenue as well as distribution rights in China and Hong Kong, bringing his total earnings to at least .


title: Rush Hour 3

text: The scene where Chan and Tucker fight the Kung-Fu Giant, played by Chinese basketball player Sun Mingming, is a parody of Bruce Lee's "Game of Death", where Lee fights a taller black man played by NBA basketball player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The film subverts it by having a shorter African-American man, Tucker, fight a taller Chinese man played by a basketball player, Sun.


title: Rush Hour 3

text: The film was not screened in Chinese theaters in 2007, to make way for a larger variety of foreign films for that year, according to a business representative. (The quota for imported films was 20 per year at the time.)


title: Rush Hour 3

text: Lalo Schifrin composed the soundtrack, interspersed with hip hop and R&B music. Two soundtrack albums were released. An album of the hip hop and R&B music used was released on August 8, 2007, on CD and audio cassette from New Line Records and Columbia Records. Another, containing Schifrin's original compositions for the film was released on the Varèse Sarabande label.


title: Rush Hour 3

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 17% based on 157 reviews, with an average rating of 4.2/10. The site's critical consensus reads, ""Rush Hour 3" is a tired rehash of the earlier films, and a change of scenery can't hide a lack of new ideas." Todd Gilchrist of IGN movies said, "A movie that not only depends on but demands you don't think in order to enjoy it." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 44 out of 100, based on 32 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.


title: Rush Hour 3

text: Desson Thomson of "The Washington Post", giving it three and a half stars out of five, said "at the risk of eternal damnation on the Internet, I admit to laughing at — even feeling momentarily touched by — "Rush Hour 3."" Christian Toto of "The Washington Times" said, "The Rush job should put the franchise down for good." Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" was slightly more positive giving the film two stars and saying, "...once you realize it's only going to be so good, you settle back and enjoy that modest degree of goodness, which is at least not badness, and besides, if you're watching "Rush Hour 3", you obviously didn't have anything better to do, anyway." James Berardinelli of "ReelViews" gave the film one-and-a-half stars out of four, and said the movie was dull, uninspired and redundant.


title: Rush Hour 3

text: The film was released on December 26, 2007, on DVD and Blu-ray. As of March 30, 2008, it made $80.75 million in Home Video rentals, making it the top rental of 2007. As of 2018, the film has grossed in American DVD sales.


title: Rush Hour 3

text: Because of the film's box office success, director Brett Ratner and writer Jeff Nathanson are considering the production of a fourth film in the "Rush Hour" series. In the DVD audio commentary for "Rush Hour 3", Brett Ratner jokes that a "Rush Hour 4" could be released in the future. Ratner and Nathanson are exploring many concepts, including the use of the motion capture technique for the possible sequel and various film projects with Chan and Tucker. It has been reported that the fourth film may be set in Moscow.


title: Rush Hour 3

text: In May 2011, in an interview with "Vulture", Ratner stated that the high cost of making a sequel is, "why another "Rush Hour" probably won't get made, either: It'd be too much to pay me, Chris [Tucker], and Jackie [Chan] to come back." In an interview on May 12, 2012, with "The Arizona Republic", Jackie Chan revealed that he was still planning on sequels to both "Rush Hour" and "The Karate Kid".


title: Rush Hour 3

text: In July 2012, series producer Arthur M. Sarkissian stated that a fourth film was being worked on with Chan and Tucker, and stated that he would welcome Brett Ratner back as director if he would "do it in the right way." Sarkissian expressed some dissatisfaction with the third film, and admitted he wants the potential fourth film to be grittier, and have new ideas. Sarkissian is reportedly working on choosing which out of "four or five" screenwriters he has been talking to, should work on the script.


title: Rush Hour 3

text: In August 2014, Chan stated that the studio still wants to make "Rush Hour 4", but that he will only participate if he can see a quality script first, stating "I don't want to do a rubbish script just because they want to make the movie". Both Chan and Tucker met for dinner to discuss "Rush Hour 4" in June 2015.


title: Rush Hour 3

text: In November 2016, while promoting "Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk", Tucker reaffirmed his optimism for a potential fourth film, stating "Yeah, we're talking about it now doing another one, and we're trying to get it going. I think we might be able to get one going. I love working with Jackie and I think we could do a really fun one." By October 2017, Chan said that the script for "Rush Hour 4" has been in the works and shooting for the film will most likely start in 2018 if Tucker agrees to be in the film. He stated that he was optimistic about Tucker accepting due to his previous claims of being on board for the film.


title: Rush Hour 3

text: In February 2018, Tucker confirmed the production of "Rush Hour 4". He stated on ESPN's podcast, "The Plug": "It's happening. This is gonna be the rush of all rushes. Jackie is ready and we want to do this so that people don't ever forget it." In February 2019, Tucker reported that the script is coming together, stating: "We're working on a few things on the script right now, so we're trying to get into production. But we're working on it and trying to get it going." He reiterated this in a podcast appearance in April that the fourth film was still a possibility, but that "it's not in pre-production. We're working on a few things [for] the script. Jackie wants to do it. I want to do it. The studio wants to do it."


title: Rush Hour 3

text: By 2018, in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations against Ratner by several actresses, Warner Bros. sources presumed that it's highly unlikely that Ratner will be directing "Rush Hour 4".


title: Rush Hour 3

text: In March 2019, That Hastag Show reported that a female led Rush Hour reboot was in development by STX Studios with Li Bingbing in the lead.


title: Rush Hour 3

text: In December 2022, Chan confirmed that a fourth film is in the works, after making an appearance at the Red Sea Film Festival in Saudi Arabia.


title: The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part

text: The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part is a 2019 computer-animated adventure comedy film produced by the Warner Animation Group and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. Directed by Mike Mitchell, it is a sequel to "The Lego Movie" (2014), the fourth installment overall in the franchise following the releases of "The Lego Batman Movie" and "The Lego Ninjago Movie" (2017), it is also the last film of the franchise produced and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. The film stars Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Charlie Day, Alison Brie, Nick Offerman, and Will Ferrell reprising their roles from the previous film, while new cast members include Stephanie Beatriz, Tiffany Haddish, and Maya Rudolph. A collaboration between production houses from the United States, Australia, and Denmark, the film takes place five years after the events of Taco Tuesday and follows Emmet Brickowski (Pratt), Lucy (Banks) and their friends, who take into the Systar System to test their skills and creativity, while Emmet's dealing with a coming cataclysm known as "Armamageddon".


title: The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part

text: Plans for a sequel to "The Lego Movie" began in February 2014 and was announced to be in the works, four days before the release of the first film. It was announced that the film would be directed by Chris McKay while Phil Lord and Christopher Miller remained as writers and producers. The film since underwent many changes, such as rewrites, directors, and release dates, with Mike Mitchell was later announced as the new director. Production for the film began in October 2017, with the majority of the cast members returning to voice the characters in mid-2018, alongside with the new cast. Like all its previous instalments in the franchise, the animation was provided by Animal Logic. Mark Mothersbaugh, who composed "The Lego Movie" and "The Lego Ninjago Movie", returned to composed the film's musical score, with several artists such as Dillon Francis, Beck, Robyn and The Lonely Island performing new original songs for the film.


title: The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part

text: "The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part" premiered in Los Angeles on February 2, 2019, and was released in the United States on February 8, 2019 in RealD 3D, IMAX, IMAX 3D, 4DX and Dolby Cinema formats. It received generally positive reviews from critics, who commended its humor, animation, premise, soundtrack, and voice acting, although some said it was not as "fresh" as the first film. Despite grossing $192.5 million worldwide against a budget of $99 million, the film became the franchise's second box office disappointment after "The Lego Ninjago Movie", which led Warner Bros. to sell the rights of "The Lego Movie" franchise to Universal Pictures, which was later set for a five-year deal. A third film is in development.


title: The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part

text: Shortly after the invasion led by Lord Business in which Emmet destroys the Kragle using the Piece of Resistance, Duplo aliens arrive in the Lego universe and threaten destruction. Emmet builds the aliens a heart as a token of friendship, but one eats it and demands more. Lucy and the Master Builders believe this to be an attack and retaliate, and the ensuing battle ravages Bricksburg.


title: The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part

text: Five years later, the teenaged Finn has rebuilt Bricksburg as "Apocalypseburg". Within the Lego universe, they have been ravaged by repeated Duplo attacks, and several of their friends have gone missing searching for the Duplo home planet. Emmet remains upbeat in stark contrast to Lucy and his friends, though he has visions of an impending "armamageddon". A mini-doll called General Sweet Mayhem arrives, kidnaps all of Emmet's friends, and takes them to the shape-shifting empress of the "Systar System", Queen Watevra Wa'Nabi. Emmet tries to convince the Master Builders to help him save Lucy and the rest of his friends, but they refuse to help, believing that he isn't tough enough to go through the Systar System. Emmet subsequently crafts a spaceship to pursue Mayhem by passing through the "Stairgate". Meanwhile, Wa'Nabi can seemingly brainwash Emmet's friends into accepting the joy of her world, and convinces Batman to marry her as a way to unite the Lego and Duplo worlds, with only Lucy remaining skeptical of Wa'Nabi's plans.


title: The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part

text: The ship is heavily damaged and nearly collides with an asteroid field, but is saved in time by rugged adventurer Rex Dangervest. After hearing Emmet's story, Rex offers to help and takes them to the Systar System, and en route, Emmet tries to emulate some of Rex's mannerisms. When they arrive, they quickly reunite with Lucy and learn of the marriage plans, which Rex insists must be a front to bring on "armamageddon".


title: The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part

text: As the wedding starts, Emmet, Rex, and Lucy split up to sabotage the event. Mayhem, who insists the wedding is intended to prevent "armamageddon", intercepts Lucy instead. At the ceremony, Wa'Nabi reveals her true form: the heart that Emmet tried to give the Duplo invaders. Realizing that Mayhem is right, Lucy tries to stop Emmet, but he crashes the ceremony. In reality, Finn, after finding that Bianca had taken his Lego figures, has smashed her own creations. Emmet realizes his mistake, but is seized by Rex, who reveals he is a version of himself from the future. Rex had collided with the asteroids, and ended up under the dryer, forgotten by Finn. To ensure his future existence, he changed his appearance and created a time-travel machine to return to help Emmet but make sure "armamageddon" came to pass. When Emmet refuses to abandon his friends, Rex knocks him under the same dryer, ensuring that he would continue to exist.


title: The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part

text: In the real world, Finn and Bianca's mother is fed up with the kids' bickering, and as punishment, orders them to put the Lego toys into the storage bin; Lucy recognizes this as Emmet's "armamageddon" (as in "our mama gets in"). Both the Lego and Duplo figures are put into the "Bin of Storajj" and fear they will not escape.


title: The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part

text: Meanwhile, Finn finds the pieces of Wa'Nabi's form in one of the storage bins, which is revealed to be a heart that Finn gave to Bianca five years earlier, telling her it can be "whatever you want it to be". Finn and Bianca reconcile and start playing together. In the Lego universe, this act inspires Lucy and the others to escape the Bin and help rebuild Wa'Nabi's world. Lucy helps to save Emmet from Rex and destroy his time machine. Emmet comes to accept he will never be as skilled as Rex, and with this self-realization, Rex fades from existence, correcting a time paradox.


title: The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part

text: Finn and Bianca's mother sees them playing together, and happily watches them. The Lego universe is recreated as a mish-mash of Apocalypseburg and the Systar System, renamed "Syspocalypstar". When Emmet's home is rebuilt, the film ends with Lucy making Emmet a gift of the original album of "Everything Is Awesome", revealing that she co-originated the song, causing Emmet to gasp in shock.


title: The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part

text: Additionally, the characters of Bad Cop / Good Cop (now known as Scribble Cop) and Vitruvius' ghost return, but they have only brief lines of dialogue and are voiced by uncredited actors in place of Liam Neeson and Morgan Freeman.


title: The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part

text: On February 3, 2014, Jared Stern was hired to write the sequel, along with Michelle Morgan. On March 12, 2014, Deadline reported that animation co-director Chris McKay would direct the sequel with Phil Lord and Christopher Miller as producers. On April 10, 2014, it was reported that McKay wanted to have more women in the sequel than men. On July 28, 2014, it was reported that Chris Pratt wanted to return to reprise his role as Emmet. It was also reported that Will Arnett might return to reprise his role as Batman, but hadn't decided.


title: The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part

text: In October 2014, Warner Bros. scheduled "The Lego Batman Movie" for 2017, and "The Lego Movie 2" for May 25, 2018. On October 25, 2014, it was reported that Lord and Miller had signed on to write "The Lego Movie 2". On October 30, it was announced that Australia-based animation studio Animal Logic was in talks to produce the next three Lego films (though the deal was not finalized at the time) and the New South Wales government would make financial contributions to all the films. On November 12, during an interview with BBC News, Lord and Miller revealed that there would be more female characters featured in the film.


title: The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part

text: On February 24, 2015, the sequel was retitled "The Lego Movie Sequel" and Rob Schrab was announced as the film's director, replacing McKay as director as he was scheduled to direct "The Lego Batman Movie" instead. By November 2015, Miller announced that the first draft of the script was completed. Subsequent rewrites were provided by Raphael Bob-Waksberg, Dominic Russo and Matthew Fogel. By February 2017, Schrab had been replaced by Mike Mitchell, reportedly due to "creative differences". Production started in Canada on October 2, 2017. In an interview with "Collider" for the press day for "The Lego Ninjago Movie", producer Dan Lin confirmed that Lord & Miller were rewriting the script during production. He also said that the sequel was going to include more songs due to the success of competing Disney musical films like "Frozen" and "Moana".


title: The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part

text: The production of the film took advantage of Animal Logic's latest update to its trace renderer, Glimpse, to improve on-screen detail and depth-of-field. Miller stated that he will dedicate the film to his mother, Charlotte "Charie" Miller, who died in December 2018, two months before the film's release.