Iran's lonely stance at the WTO

The Islamic Republic of Iran's prominent rejection of WTO initiatives to address Multinational Corporations falls on deaf ears.

Mitch Kelsey, Al Jazeera

In the face of continuing international economic problems, the World Trade Organization has sought to address the role of multinational corporations in promoting regional and international prosperity. Although there seems to be a developing consensus on supporting the increasing penetration of (primarily 'western') multinational corporate investment in the developing world, the Islamic Republic of Iran has established itself in staunch opposition.

The Islamic Republic's stance on this is not new and certainly not surprising. In recent years it has provided its rhetorical, political, and even financial support for other 'Global South' regimes in South America and elsewhere. Furthermore, the Iranian Republic has a long history with the intervention of multinational corporations. It was the multinational corporation, Anglo-Iranian Petroleum (since renamed British Petroleum), that helped foment the ouster of Iran's democratically elected government and install the autocratic Pahlavi regime.

Following the continuing development of political (and thus economic) instability in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as implied recognition by states in the region of the Iranian regime's alleged continuation of its nuclear weapons program, a number of states have decried Iran's stance as strategically minded, leading to potential "opportunit[ies] to exert itself in dangerous ways". We will continue to follow the developments both within the WTO and its wider consequences.