IRAN'S ECONOMIC WOES

IN the frigid air of Tehran winter, a mother of two stands in a long time line of shoppers waiting for the chance to buy discounted meat at a store supported by Iran's government.

''Yesterday, after nearly two hours in the line, the shopkeeper said : ''It is finished, try another day,''  Zahra Akram said recently. ''And now here I am here again.''

Her struggle represents the economic paradox that faces Iran as it marks the 40th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution.

Despite holding some of the world's largest proven deposits of oil and natural gas, Iran has seen a return to long lines for food - a sight once seen during the 1980s, when it was at war with Iraq.

Inflation continues to rise as its currency, the rial  depreciates. University graduates are unable to find jobs.

Part of the economic challenges stem from the  re-imposition of US sanctions that had been lifted under the  nuclear deal  Iran stuck with world powers. Those sanctions have returned after President Donald Trump decided to pull America out of the accord.

But other problems persist, some dating back to policies instituted after the Islamic Revolution in 1979.

The revolt wouldn't have been possible without impoverished Iranians rising up against \shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi.

His land reforms was poorer  rural residents  move to the cities and become fresh recruits for the revolution.

Ayatollah Ruhullah Khomeini's calls for supporting the poor struck a populist tone among the struggling masses, as well as with leftists who helped overthrow a regime that spent billions on US weapons.

Immediately after the revolution, Iran nationalised its oil industry, its main source of hard currency. Its new leaders also seized  industries tied to the Shah or companies of those who fled the country. Shiite charitable trusts, known as bonyads, as has Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. [Agencies]

The honor and serving of the latest global operational research on Iran and economy continues.