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Source: https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/4071001/amir-taheri/iran-model-or-warning
Iran's Ruling Elite Do Not Resemble Average Iranians
(Asharq Al-Awsat-UK) Amir Taheri - Iran has undergone dramatic changes since the Khomeinist sect seized power 43 years ago. In 1977, on the eve of the revolution, there were 35,000 Iranians living abroad. That number today is around 8 million. In the decade that preceded the revolution, Iran experienced an annual economic growth rate averaging 7%. In the past decade, the rate has been almost zero. With over 150,000 highly-educated Iranians choosing exile each year, Iran is number one in the brain drain league, according to the International Monetary Fund. It is also number one, relative to population, in the number of executions each year. Iran also claims top spots in the number of political prisoners, prisoners of conscience and foreign hostages. The ruling elite consist largely of a network of 200 families with clerical, military-security and bazaar backgrounds. The ruling elite is less educated than the average urban Iranian. A study by a Tehran University professor claims that the average IQ of the ruling elite is lower than that of average Iranians. Iranians are keenly aware of the fact that their ruling elite do not resemble them. The writer was the executive editor-in-chief of the daily Kayhan in Iran from 1972 to 1979.