With the election of moderate President Hassan Rouhani in 2013, there were not only campaign promises of reversing the country’s brain drain — otherwise known as the flight of human capital — but also action was taken within the Cabinet to demonstrate this promise. The hiring of Kaveh Madani from the United Kingdom to return to his country of birth to serve as deputy head of Iran’s Department of Environment was one such action.
The 36-year-old scientist, who is about the same age as the Islamic Revolution, would in the eyes of many serve as a test on whether or not both the administration and the deep state would allow young, educated Iranians to return and work.
However, the arrest of Madani and his recent exit from Iran has brought this discussion out in the open with various reactions, mostly critical. In a since deleted tweet, Abdollah Ramenzanzadeh, a
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senior Reformist who served as government spokesman under former Reformist president Mohammad Khatami, wrote, “The top student on state exams or the Oxford graduate are no use to this country.” The tweet also referenced Mohammad Reza Jalaeipour, who was also recently arrested after having returned to Iran. Reformist Iranian parliament member Mahmoud Sadeghi, who was one of the first individuals to break the news about Madani’s departure from Iran, tweeted, “This is a lesson for Iranian elites outside of the country.” Hafez Hakami tweeted, “This is not the story of just one person. … I’m sorry for the thousands of others who will decide not to return after this.”
On April 18, Madani tweeted his letter of resignation, describing his strange ordeal. “It’s been seven months. With the invitation of the head of the Department of Environment, after being away 14 years, to serve my country and its honorable people I returned to my homeland,” the letter began. He continued that he had hoped to “play a small role” in addressing the many environmental problems in Iran.
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