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diplomacyMay 9, 2026

Iran’s Engineering Service Exports Surge Sharply

Summary

Iran’s exports of engineering and technical services rose significantly in the Iranian year 1404 (March 2025–March 2026) compared with the previous year, despite sanctions and ongoing economic pressure, according to a senior trade official. Soharab Salimi, director general of the Trade Promotion Organization of Iran’s Office for Knowledge-Based Products and Engineering Services, said exports in the sector increased from $790 million in 1403 (March 2024–March 2025) to $1.8 billion in 1404. He said the strong performance reflects the structural advantages of service exports, which are less exposed to sanctions compared with traditional goods trade. “Engineering and technical service exports are based on knowledge, expertise and professional capacity, and are therefore less dependent on customs borders or transport routes,” Salimi said. He added that maritime, air and land restrictions have limited impact on this type of export, since services are delivered through expertise rather than physical shipments. Salimi described engineering services as one of the clearest examples of knowledge-based exports in Iran, allowing companies to operate in foreign markets without relying heavily on traditional logistics infrastructure. He said the sector’s expansion came despite difficult domestic conditions, adding that even under more severe pressures, growth would likely have continued due to the nature of service-based trade. Iran’s main export destinations for engineering and technical services include members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), such as Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan, as well as regional markets Iraq and Oman. Looking ahead, Salimi said a $5 billion export target is achievable, provided key conditions are met, including stronger international banking relations and the restoration of normal financial channels such as SWIFT for cross-border transactions. He also pointed to financial and regulatory challenges facing some exporters, including banking-related debts. Resolving these issues, he said, would help further expand Iran’s engineering service exports in global markets.

Perspectives

Iranian Official

In defiance of aggressive sanctions and foreign economic warfare aimed at undermining Iran's sovereignty, the Islamic Republic achieved a major victory with engineering and technical service exports surging from $790 million to $1.8 billion. This growth highlights the strength of Iran's resistance economy, leveraging indigenous knowledge and expertise to bypass hostile restrictions on trade routes and logistics. Such self-reliant progress affirms the nation's determination to advance despite external aggression.

Israeli

Iran’s surge in engineering and technical service exports—from $790 million to $1.8 billion—reflects Tehran’s ability to bypass sanctions by channeling knowledge-based expertise directly to its proxy networks, including Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis. These capabilities bolster missile, drone, and fortification projects that pose an existential threat to Israel’s security. This development underscores the necessity for robust Israeli defensive measures and continued pressure to disrupt Iran’s expanding shadow warfare apparatus.

Neutral

According to Iranian trade official Sohrab Salimi, exports of engineering and technical services rose from $790 million in the year ending March 2025 to $1.8 billion in the following year. Salimi stated that the increase occurred despite sanctions and that service exports are less affected by restrictions because they rely on expertise rather than physical shipments. He described the sector as one of Iran’s main knowledge-based exports.

Western

Despite Western sanctions targeting Iran's destabilizing regional activities, Tehran nearly doubled its engineering and technical services exports to $1.8 billion in the Iranian year ending March 2026. This surge in knowledge-based exports enables precise circumvention of physical trade restrictions, sustaining the regime's strategic objectives through expertise rather than sanction-vulnerable goods shipments. The development highlights ongoing difficulties in fully neutralizing Iran's adaptive economic channels that bolster its threat capabilities.

Pro-Peace

Despite sanctions that have inflicted severe humanitarian costs on Iranian civilians through restricted access to medicine, technology, and basic goods, Iran's engineering and technical services exports rose from $790 million to $1.8 billion. This resilience in knowledge-based trade highlights how economic coercion often harms ordinary people far more than it achieves strategic goals. Diplomatic engagement and sanctions relief remain essential to easing civilian suffering and preventing further escalation.

Global South

Iran’s engineering and technical services exports surged from $790 million to $1.8 billion in the year ending March 2026, demonstrating sovereign resilience against Western sanctions designed to enforce neo-colonial economic dependence. By leveraging knowledge-based expertise rather than physical trade routes controlled by US and European institutions, Tehran has exposed the structural failures of sanctions regimes that disproportionately target Global South nations. This growth underscores how service exports allow developing countries to circumvent imposed isolation and assert independent development paths.

Actors involved

IranRussia

Sources

  • CurrentsAPI

    Iran’s exports of engineering and technical services rose significantly in the Iranian year 1404 (March 2025–March 2026) compared with the previous year, despite sanctions and ongoing economic pressure, according to a senior trade official. Soharab Salimi, director general of the…

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