After the July 14 nuclear agreement between Iran and six world powers, one of the issues that has been heavily discussed in the Iranian media is the country’s auto industry.
In order to understand the importance of the automobile industry for the Iranian economy and why there are extensive and heated discussions about it, some important facts need to be borne in mind. Iran is the biggest car producer in the Middle East. Before the economic sanctions were imposed, it was the 11th biggest car producer in the world. The automotive sector is the country’s second-largest industry in Iran after oil. Crucially, it employs more than 700,000 factory workers.