Iran Activates Its ‘Resistance Economy’

Financial Times: “Over four decades, Iran has built what it calls a ‘resistance economy,’ designed to withstand conflict, sanctions and hostility with nations near and far.”

“The Islamic republic manufactures products it struggles to import, including pharmaceuticals, car parts and white goods. Its several hundred power plants are dispersed around the country, a lesson learned after the 1980s Iran-Iraq war in part to make it more challenging to destroy the network. And it uses barter to get around sanctions, exporting oil in exchange for food and machinery. This model, which has helped the regime survive even if it has presided over a deepening economic malaise, is now being put to the ultimate test.”