Brain drain, another shame for the Iranian regime

Brain drain, another shame for the Iranian regime

Iran is in the first place among 91 countries suffering from the emigration of high educated experts

Analysis by PMOI/MEK

Iran, Oct. 11, 2018 - Iran is in the first place among 91 countries suffering from the emigration of highly educated experts and elites–64 percent of Iranian students and the winners of the Olympiad, the national math competition, have left the country during the past 14 years.

According to the reports of official economic experts, the brain drain from Iran has cost the country billions of dollars.

Ahmad Khoram, the head of Engineering Organization and the former minister of transportation, revealed that Iran suffers from the loss of 150 billion dollars every year, due to the brain drain. “UNESCO says that 150,000 intellectuals leave Iran every year. The government spends one million dollars for every university graduate student before the student can enter the work cycle of the country. Thus, we loss 150 thousand million dollars per year and nobody cares,” Khoram told the state-run ISNA news agency in June 2018.

Hassan Rouhani also could not keep silent about this crisis. According to the October 9 edition of National Foundation of Intellectuals website, he said, “Some people say that there is no need to worry about the emigration of intellectuals if it was happening in mutual interactions. But the brain drain is a different issue and is a great loss for any nation. It is regrettable that other countries could benefit from this treasure without spending a penny on it.”

The statistics speak for themselves. Out of 150 mathematical elite students graduated from Sharif University, only one remains in Iran. Sharif University is the most famous university in Iran.

The state-run website of Asr-e Iran wrote on September 30, “Fortunately, we have a growing number of graduate students, managers, and experts, but take into account the brain drain, we will face mismanagement, chaos, disorder, a bankrupt economy, embezzlement, closure of factories, etc.”

Why does Iran suffer from brain drain?

First is the appointing of unqualified persons to key posts. Government offices are given to people who are just loyal to the dictatorship ruling Iran, and the qualified, educated, experts and elites are deprived of such opportunities.

Second is the lack of freedom. Unprecedented oppressive measures taken in universities force students to complete their studies in western countries. Mahmood Sadeghi, a member of the regime’s parliament recently exposed: “universities are ruled with an iron fist, especially during the recent years, and it leads to the discouragement of students. Students are not interested in taking part in political and cultural activities. The Disciplinary Committee, which watches and punishes students’ political and social activities, could expel the students from the university in some cases.”

Third, graduate students and especially girls are joining the long line of job seekers with no vision of hope for finding a proper job. Only 12 percent of Iranian women are taking part in social activities.

One can hear the women’s voice in Iran talking about discrimination against women. A graduated lady says, “Every young man or woman is seeking for a job. I know that I have no future with this amount of salary.” Another lady talks about unemployment of her graduated boys and girls, “I have six children. Between them, they have a master’s degree, a bachelor, associate degree, and one of them has a diploma, but only the last one is working as a worker and the other five are unemployed and stay in the house. The government interferes in every detail of your life, they start with your hijab, then your clothes, scarf, etc.”

So it is clear that graduate students do not see any future in staying in Iran and leave the country as soon as they can.

It is worth mentioning that Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, addressed the crowd in his speech in October 1979, just one year after he came to power, where he said, “To hell with brain drain! They say that brains are draining! Let them drain! To hell with them and with those brains! Those brains were not scientific brains, those were betrayers' brains.”

In another speech, he said, “We have suffered from a university. A bad university is better not to exist.”

It goes without saying that what  “bad university” means in Khomeini’s evil mentality. Khomeini meant that university and students had to execute his order and realize his twisted dreams for founding his fundamentalist empire in the region, based on Sharia law. If not, the educated should go to hell, or at least to other countries.

Under such regime, Ali Khamenei, its current supreme leader, has wiped out names of intellectuals from lists of key posts and positions and has appointed heads of his oppressive forces who are loyal to the dictatorship, as Basij, IRGC commanders, intelligence officers, or their relatives. So the one-way road for intellectuals and elites is “brain drain.”