A. M. VASILIEV Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences 1. What tasks did the leadership of the regime established in Iran after the anti-Shah Islamic revolution set for itself? The regime's elite - the top theologians (some of whom have become "oligarchs" in terms of their wealth), the top bureaucrats and law enforcement agencies, and entrepreneurs-bazaars - are usually distinguished by a clan or patronage-clientelist structure. Its strategic objectives (in addition to those declared within the framework of religious doctrine) are to retain power and privileges, increase wealth, maintain its control over the country's hydrocarbon and mining resources, ensure its economic development and stability, satisfy at least some of the aspirations of the masses, and protect the country and, accordingly, its own positions from external pressure or military threats. expand the area of Iran's influence on its neighbors, especially where there is a Shiite component of the population. 2. The "Shiite democracy" regime has shown that it can produce, albeit temporarily, positive economic results. Within a few decades, Iran has become a medium-developed country: it has reached the second ten in the world hierarchy in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP) - approximately at the level of Turkey. According to the International Monetary Fund, nominal (in current prices) Iran's GDP in 2011 was approximately $482 billion, compared to $990 billion at PPP.2 You can mention the production of cars, steel, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, rocket technologies (in particular, the launch of artificial Earth satellites). Nuclear research also requires a fairly high technological level. Iran's exports are based on hydrocarbons, primarily oil. Iran has the second largest gas fields in the world, very large oil fields, but for political reasons these figures are often exaggerated. At the same time, "non-carbon" exports are growing. In Iran, progress has been made in literacy and Internet use (alm ... Читать далее