Why Vast Natural Wealth Leads to Mass Poverty

In summation, Iran's failure to provide for its citizens, despite its natural resource wealth, is not a simple matter of resource scarcity but a catastrophic convergence of factors: a self-serving rentier state model, the crushing weight of sanctions, and, most critically, the institutionalized economic dominance of opaque, unaccountable entities like the Bonyads and the IRGC. These entities have structurally undermined the private sector, amplified systemic corruption, and ensured that the nation's wealth is monopolized by a privileged elite, leaving the vast majority of Iranians to contend with high poverty, soaring inflation, and a profound sense of deprivation since the 1979 Revolution.