The Iranian Exodus Post-1979 Revolution

Following closely were the educated elite, businessmen, and secular professionals who foresaw the dramatic shift in social and economic policies. They recognized that the new regime's ideology would fundamentally alter the fabric of Iranian society, threatening their livelihoods, intellectual freedoms, and Western-oriented lifestyles. Doctors, engineers, artists, and academics, many of whom had studied abroad, packed their bags, knowing that their skills and perspectives might no longer be valued or, worse, might even be deemed subversive in the emerging Islamic state. Their departure represented a significant brain drain for the nascent republic.