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.
