Iran is home of one the world´s oldest civilisations, formations date back to 3200 BC. The first empire in the region was formed in 625 BC, after which it became the dominant cultural and political power in the region. Under Cyrus the Great it reached the pinnacle of its power, comprising of a region stretching from parts of Eastern Europe in the west, to the Indus in the east, the Caspian Sea in the North and parts of the Arabian Peninsula in the South. Named “Persia”, it was the largest empire the world had yet seen. Unfortunately, it collapsed in 330 BC following the conquests of Alexander the Great. Later it was invaded from all sides, from the South by the Arabs, from the West by the Greek and later Osmans, from the North by the Mongols and later the Russians, and in the last century by the British from the East, who were concerned about India and therefore established a buffer zone, which nowadays constitutes Afghanistan and Pakistan.

A revolution in the year 1979 ended the reign of the Pahlavi family, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and his family were forced to leave the country. Ayatollah Khomeini returned from exile in France and established the Islamic Republic of Iran. Later, the country positioned itself under its new leadership as revolutionary beacon with the slogan “neither East nor West”, calling other countries for the overthrow of capitalism, American influence, and social injustice in the Middle East and the rest of the world. In 1980, the Sunni Muslim-dominated regime of Saddam Hussein of neighboring Iraq invaded Iran to take advantage of the revolutionary chaos. However, the attempt failed, Iran could regain all of the occupied land and the political regime of Khomeini was rather strengthened.

The economy of Iran is affected by sanctions, imposed by the USA in 1979 after the revolution, expanded in 1995 and 2006, when Iran refused to suspend its uranium enrichment program. Early this year, the United Nations lifted the sanctions, following an agreement of the P5+1 group of countries. Now, Iran is able to access money of Western bank accounts, invest in its economy, especially in its oil and gas industry. This is the main source of income for Iran, ranked as number three in the world for its oil and gas reserves. The economy of Iran is in essence centrally planned and dominated by the oil and gas production. Thus, main focus is on large Capital Expenditures (CapEx) Projects for the oil and gas exploitation as well as for the petrochemical industry. Despite the low market prices, Iran wants to increase export of oil and gas to customers worldwide in order to get funds for investing in its infrastructure (e.g. public transportation, energy, facilities), reshaping manufacturing industries (e.g. automotive) and enabling its population to prosper after the long period of sanctions.

More than ten years ago, the Iranian Project Management Association was founded and accepted as a member of IPMA.  It was established with the primary objective of upgrading the project management status in Iran, developing the project management knowledge and tailoring it to the national context, promoting project management in the technical and operational system of the country, raising the awareness of project management and developing related expertise qualitatively and quantitatively. The annual International PM Conference gathers more than a thousand professionals of Iran and exposes the Iranian Association to the main sectors and governmental agencies. Since several years, Iran also celebrates excellent projects using the Project Excellence Model of IPMA. Some of the projects even make it to the international finals, and are awarded with an IPMA Project Excellence or Achievement Award. Last not least, several hundred project managers undergo an assessment and certify within the IPMA 4-Level-Certification System. The termination of sanctions will boost the number of projects and thus the need for professional project management. This is a great opportunity for the people of Iran, but also for international experts, helping in managing projects or supporting Iran with services such as PM Consultancy, PM Coaching or PM Training.