Assessment and comparative analysis of Iran's mineral policy: Lessons and recommendations

The overriding objective of this research was to develop an understanding of Iran's policy environment, within which the country's mining sector operates, in relation to that of the rest of the world. In an effort to diversify the country's economy, the first five-year development plan (FFYDP) provided a solid structure for the development of the Iranian mining sector. Although the plan attached high priorities to increasing the share of the private sector in mineral activities, the actual capital invested by this sector in mining projects was much less than anticipated during the plan period. This observation constitutes the early context for this research.; To develop that understanding, a multi-level methodology for both the Iranian policy environment and its international counterparts was adopted. For Iran's policy environment, this multi-level methodology covered: (1) A comprehensive assessment of government Policies for the mineral sector as well as the sector's performance during the FFYDP. (2) A thorough examination of the views and comments of all active stakeholders, including Ministry of Mines and Metals (MMM) officials, mining company executives, and co-operatives and individual operators. This information collection was accomplished in three phases: informal discussions, interviews, and formal questionnaires with debriefing follow-ups, where the respondents made many comments on most aspects of the formal questionnaire. (3) An objective examination of financial statements of mining enterprises was also performed.; The comparison of Iran to the international context consisted of two major parts: (1) An assessment of the policy environment of three mineral-endowed developing countries through case studies, and (2) A detailed examination of the views and comments of large international mining enterprises.; This parallel and comparative approach has led to an overall finding that Iran's mineral policy environment has been relatively ineffective in attracting additional investment to the sector. To remedy this situation, policy recommendations, based on the analysis and implication of all components of the above research, are put forward. However, some challenging research questions remain, a list of which constitute promising areas of future research.