As a longtime analyst of the politics of Iran, I will primarily focus on the politics of Iran’s economy. I want to preface my remarks by saying how difficult it is to obtain authoritative information on Iran’s political economy. Iran is not an isolated country - it has relatively open trade with U.S. allies. However, Iran’s economy is not transparent and there is no U.S. Embassy in Iran to follow Iran’s economy and obtain authoritative information. The Iranian government 
has not, to date, allowed a CRS visit to Iran on the grounds that CRS is part of the U.S. government. 

In particular, I will discuss how key leaders and factions have gained a substantial measure of control over major segments of the Iranian economy, avoiding virtually any official transparency or accountability. Iran’s leaders are able to steer the proceeds of parts of the economy to provide patronage and build their constituencies, particularly among the lower classes. Because Iran’s political leaders benefit from the structure of the economy as it is, there is little chance under the current system of major, structural economic reform.