Head of parliament's Article 44 commission: only about 5 percent of the past two decades' privatisations reached the real private sector

The head of the Iranian parliament's Article 44 commission said on Saturday, 25 July 2026, citing figures on the transfer of state enterprises over the past two decades, that only about 5 percent of those transfers reached the real private sector, meaning ordinary citizens.

According to him, most of the remainder was either handed to other institutions or exchanged as settlement of government debt.

Article 44 of the constitution and the policies issued under it form the legal basis for transferring state enterprises to the private sector. The ownership structure of privatised companies matters directly to Tehran Stock Exchange shareholders, because it shapes how those companies are run, how transparent their disclosures are, and how they set dividend policy.