QWECXZ
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Iran's electronics industry started almost the same time as South Korea's. Look where they are now.As said, no matter what area one chooses to compare the two countries in, south Korea was ahead of Iran prior to the Islamic Revolution. I essentially debunked a false belief held by some Iranians that Iran jumped ahead of south Korea in the 1970's. That's simply wrong, and in fact it was during the 1970's that the Koreans expanded their already held advance.
The key factor behind these diverging trajectories lies in the Iranian economy's dependence on oil exports. One can't successfully develop a large-scale, diversified and technologically advanced industry by relying on the hard currency windfall of crude energy sales. This is something the Islamic Republic has understood, hence the insistence on the development of non-oil exports (which today have surpassed oil exports, although some of it is gas, but exports of manufactured goods are still about on par with crude oil and gas sales).
Also, the Islamic Republic resulted from a popular revolution. It takes years for a revolutionary government to stabilize and gain actual control. Then followed eight years of Imposed War during which no significant industrial development could be expected (nonetheless some of the necessary groundwork was laid right away). Then followed illegal US-imposed sanctions, which tend to hamper trade.
Yet Iran today is exporting automobiles, home appliance, steel, cement, petrochemicals, pharmaceutics, a variety of agricultural produce and more. Before the Revolution Iran wasn't exporting anything but oil, carpets, pistachios and caviar. And given the policies of the shah regime as well as the wishes of its western and zionist patrons, it's improbable that Iran would have achieved such an economic transition.
Iran's nuclear industry was on par with South Korea and around the same time. Look where they are now. Honestly, this one is actually very sad because our nuclear industry has cost us a lot more than South Korea's and yet we're decades behind them now.
Iran's car industry was also on par with South Korea, per your own examples. Look where they are now.
At the very least, one could see that the gap has not become smaller after the revolution, but in fact has grown multiple times wider.
I mean there are many different ways to compare the two countries, but I don't want to use economy as just one factor for a country's progress. But If we want to rely on that, Iran's GDP per capita in 1979, the same country where you claim people were dirt poor, was one-third more than that of South Korea's.
South Korea, GDP per capita (1979): $1,783.62
Iran, GDP per capita (1979): $2,427.47 USD
Iran has not been selling that much oil after the revolution. Right after the revolution, Iraq-Iran war happened which reduced our oil production from 5 million barrels per day to less than 1.5 million barrels per day. And I don't have to tell you that since 2009, Iran's oil exports have been hit really hardly (except for a short period after the JCPOA) and yet Iran is nowhere near countries like South Korea. So, if oil holds a country back, we have had a lot of time to catch up without relying on oil but is the gap closing now?
As a matter of fact, history suggests that war in itself stimulates rapid growth in technology and industry. A lot of Iran's advances, and the self-reliance belief in most Iranians today, come from the fact that they have learned the hard way that when a country attacks you, you should rely only on yourself and nobody else.
Fair enough. Neither was Turkey. Now compare Turkey's exports and Iran's.
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