How to start a business in Iran as a foreigner (2026)

Iran's Vice President for Science, Technology, and Knowledge-Based Economy extended the registration deadline for eight newly introduced support packages, including grants, export incentives, and preferential loans, underscoring the government's continued policy of lowering barriers for tech-sector formation.

Iran's parliament passed new legislation expanding support for knowledge-based firms beyond the 2010 framework by adding demand-side technology investment mandates, broader tax incentives, and commercialisation pathways; the Act contributed to the sector growing to nearly 10,000 registered firms generating over $10 billion in annual sales.

The World Bank ended its Doing Business publication, the last edition of which placed Iran 127th overall and 178th for starting a business, following an audit finding data irregularities, eliminating the primary international benchmark used to track Iran's business-environment reforms.

The World Bank's Doing Business 2020 country profile rated Iran 178th out of 190 economies for ease of starting a business, citing 10.5 required procedures, 72.5 days, and a cost of 1.1% of per-capita income, reflecting persistent bureaucratic barriers despite earlier online-portal reforms.

Iran's Companies Registration Office launched an online portal enabling founders to submit incorporation documents and track status digitally, reducing in-person requirements; the World Bank's DB2015 cycle credited this as a 'Starting a Business' reform, though overall rank improvement was marginal.

Iran legislated a formal legal category for 'knowledge-based companies', private firms commercialising innovation, mandating government support through 15-year income-tax exemptions, subsidised land, and R&D grants; this created the primary fast-track formation pathway for technology startups.

Ayatollah Khamenei issued a binding decree mandating that 80% of shares in large state-owned enterprises be transferred to the private sector, formally opening major industries to private investment and company formation, and directing the Justice Ministry to establish courts to protect investor ownership rights.

FIPPA replaced the 1955 LAPFI, permitting foreign investors to own 100% of Iranian businesses in most sectors, protecting against expropriation, and expanding permitted investment structures to include BOT, buy-back, and project-financing arrangements; it established the primary legal framework for foreign company formation and the FIPPA licence regime.

Parliament enacted the Free Trade-Industrial Zones Law, formally creating deregulated zones where companies register under simplified procedures, enjoy 20-year tax holidays, permit 100% foreign ownership without a local partner, and operate outside mainland Iran's labour and foreign-exchange restrictions, making these zones the easiest path for foreign business formation.

Following the revolution, Article 44 of the new constitution reserved 'large-scale' industry, banking, and major trade exclusively for the state sector, triggering nationalisation of banks and hundreds of enterprises; private business formation was legally confined to 'small-scale' activities for nearly three decades.

Parliament completely replaced the 1932 joint-stock company provisions with 300 new articles introducing modern shareholder rights, board governance, mandatory auditing, and capital-market rules; these provisions remain the primary statutory framework governing incorporation of private and public joint-stock companies today.

Iran's parliament enacted its comprehensive Commercial Code (modelled on the French Commercial Code of 1807), establishing seven legal forms of business entity including limited-liability companies (Sherkat ba Masouliyat Mahdood) and joint-stock companies, the Register of Commerce, and mandatory merchant registration requirements that remain the foundational framework for all company formation in Iran.