Only weeks into what was widely anticipated to be a helter-skelter, post-sanctions rush of Western money and expertise into Iran , limits to the country’s opening are beginning to emerge as the conservative leadership seeks to limit the reach of Western influences. Behind the headlines announcing big business contracts with European companies it is becoming increasingly clear that, so far, the only deals being struck have been with the state-backed conglomerates. These are the groups that dominate major industrial and commercial sectors of the Iranian economy and are tightly controlled by pension funds and investment companies linked to state organizations, like the Revolutionary Guards . As a result, little or nothing is trickling down to the lower levels of […]