A top business leader in Iran has said that the country had zero economic growth in the past decade and if this situation continues, the economy faces decay.

The head of a government chamber of commerce, Gholam-Hossein Shafei speaking at a ceremony in Mashhad said that the private sector in Iran has been dealt a bad hand by politically well-connected elites who took advantage of privatization to enrich themselves.

Shafei, who is the chairman of trade ministry’s chamber of commerce for industry, mines and agriculture, pointed out that depreciation of assets is taking place faster than investments in the economy. In the meantime, the world economy has made great progress and Iran has remained behind., he argued.

With economic crisis gripping Iran since 2018, and lack of progress in nuclear talks with the United States, there are increasing calls for rational thinking to resolve international disputes, remove sanctions and rescue the economy.

Shafei, in an implicit reference to Iran’s isolation, stressed that the world economy is intertwined and interdependent and implied that Iran has remained behind in globalization. He added that Iran has the potential to rescue its economy but it cannot be done “with traditional steps”.