Beyond Sanctions: The Resistance Economy as the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Policy Discourse for Economic Independence

This article covers the emergence of resistance economy in the Islamic Republic of Iran within the context of international sanctions, arguing that this policy ought to be understood beyond the historical context in which it emerged. The article captures the historical, political, and economic context in which the first comprehensive economic discourse of the post-revolutionary establishment emerges, and seeks to account for its scope, concerns, and objectives. Rather than another word for protectionism, import-substitution industrialisation, economic diversification of a rentier state or a mere response to sanctions, resistance economy as espoused by Ayatollah Khamenei, is a comprehensive economic policy discourse affecting all levels of state and society in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Rather than mitigating the impact of sanctions, resistance economy is an economic discourse that seeks to realise the revolutionary objective of economic independence, whilst transforming the economy of the Islamic Republic from a source of weakness to a source of strength in its pursuit of a new, more equitable international order.

Keywords:

Iran , Islamic Revolution , Khamenei , political economy , Resistance , sanctions