Robin M. Mills, Columnist

Iran's Main Enemy Is Within

Access to oil and gas markets won't be enough to revive the country's economy.

July 15, 2015 at 10:18 PM UTC

By Robin M. Mills

Robin M. Mills is CEO of Qamar Energy and author of "The Myth of the Oil Crisis."

Oil and revolution don't mix.
Photographer: Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images

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Iran's government is basking in anticipation of the economic boom that lifting international sanctions will bring, particularly in the country's dominant oil and gas sectors. But sanctions aren't all that's held Iran back in the past.

Three pragmatic or reformist governments have held power since the revolution, headed by Presidents Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani (1989-97), Mohammad Khatami (1997-2005) and Hassan Rouhani (since 2013). Each began with promising economic reforms and improvements in foreign relations, but Rafsanjani and Khatami ultimately failed, defeated by entrenched opposition within the regime. Rouhani could easily share their fate.