Why Iran has the world’s best-performing stockmarket

THERE SEEMS to be no end to Iran’s suffering. It has struggled with one of the world’s worst outbreaks of covid-19. As it opens back up there are signs that it is being hit by a powerful second wave. Last year the economy shrank by almost 8%. It may do worse this year. American sanctions had largely cut if off from the global market. The coronavirus has just about finished the job.Yet, somehow, the Iranian stockmarket is booming. Its main index, the Tedpix, has soared tenfold in two years in local currency terms, and doubled since Iran declared a lockdown on March 27th. Even when measured in hard currency it is the world’s best-performing index. “In three years we’ve tripled our euro value,” says Maciej Wojtal, who manages Europe’s only fund focused on Iran’s market.