Iran's History Turned a Page in Masjed Soleiman

Radio Farda - On the fifth of Khordad, 107 years have passed since the oil eruption in Masjed Soleiman. Fahimeh Khodr Haidari has asked Fereydoun Khavand whether this event can be considered a turning point in contemporary Iranian history. Fereydoun Khavand: On the fifth of Khordad 1287 in the Iranian calendar, corresponding to the 26th of May 1908 in the Gregorian calendar, at four in the morning, with the roar of oil gushing from well number one in Masjed Soleiman, the history of Iran and even the Middle East took a new direction, and the fate of Iranians became intertwined for a long period with what later came to be known as black gold. Since then, many ups and downs in Iran's political and economic life have been connected to oil, especially after World War II with the nationalization of the oil industry, the events of 28 Mordad 32, and the impact that oil has had on Iran's political and economic life both before and after the Islamic Revolution, where oil and its price played a dominant role in all annual budgets and five-year plans. Given this dominant role of oil, global powers in their struggle with Iran over the nuclear issue targeted the country's capabilities in exporting this commodity and the revenues derived from it to influence the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic. In summary, over these 107 years, Iran has lived with oil, and there is currently no prospect for the end of this shared life. In recent decades, there has been much debate about the pros and cons of oil, with the fundamental question of whether oil is a blessing or a curse. Can we today provide a definitive answer to this question, at least regarding Iran? The blame should not be placed solely on oil. Whether oil is a curse or a blessing depends on how it is utilized. Americans in the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century made the best possible use of oil, and we see that today Norway has turned oil into a new source of wealth for its people. In contrast, Iran, both before and after the revolution, with incorrect policies, turned oil into an economic and political scourge. Iran had a sound economic policy until the early 1350s. A sudden increase in oil revenues disrupted the country's balances like a devastating flood. Later, during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's era, about seven hundred billion dollars in oil revenues played a significant role in plunging Iran into a terrifying quagmire that requires years of effort to escape. After all this experience, has Iran learned how to properly utilize its oil revenues? Theoretically, Iran's expert apparatus today knows what to do and what not to do with oil revenues. However, it is still unclear whether Iranian policymakers have learned from the past and can resist the temptation of oil.