Historical Analysis of Barriers to Industrial Development in Iran

One of the most fundamental questions in the scientific and public circles of Iran is why this country has failed to achieve industrial development? Although several studies have been conducted in explaining the obstacles to the development of Iran, but industrialization as a development axis has been less studied. The main purpose of this research is to study the barriers of the industrial development in Iran, focusing on the history of the formation of the Industrial Revolution in the second half of the eighteenth century onwards to answer the following questions: First, is Iran's industrial underdevelopment rooted in external barriers? Second, is Iran's industrial underdevelopment due to internal obstacles? Third, Is Iran's industrial underdevelopment due to the policies of the Qajar government or the later governments contributed to it? Based on the research findings which was conducted using the historical method, colonial powers in the nineteenth century had an important role in Iran's industrial underdevelopment by limiting the activities of Iranian capitalists from major industrial areas, bankrupt domestic industry, pushing the Iranian economy to the production of raw materials and excluding Iran from receiving a substantial portion of oil revenues over a long period. But Iran's industrial underdevelopment puzzle is completed by internal barriers particularly inappropriate policies of governments such as lack of program to help the growth of the bourgeoisie, reliance on raw materials particularly oil revenues, uncontrolled imports of consumer and intermediate goods, insisting on import substitution policy, inability to attract foreign investment and high military spending. The research finding also show that; although the Qajar government had a key role in Iran's industrial underdevelopment but the later governments also have contributed to this underdevelopment.