Why the Iran Aid Package Needs Economic Freedom Conditions

The breakdown is worse than the headline number. Iran ranks 149th on legal system and property rights, 144th on sound money, 165th on free trade, and 162nd on regulations. The legal system score of 3.2 is dragged down by the fact that women have fewer economic rights in employment and property ownership. Without that distortion, the score would be 4.5.

Critics of the deal point out that the regime prints money freely, restricts trade, and smothers private enterprise with regulations. The black market currency premium is extreme. Any aid that enters without reform will first pass through the regime's hands.

President Trump has expressed hope that the Iran initiative could expand the Abraham Accords. The original signatories to those accords are among the most economically free countries in the region. Israel scores 7.46 and ranks 39th. Bahrain and the UAE score 7.41 and 7.25, ranked 43rd and 52nd. Morocco scores 6.38 and ranks 94th. Before the 1979 revolution, Iran was in the top half of the index.

The Fraser Institute's data shows a clear path: condition the $300 billion on reforms in property rights, sound money, open trade, and deregulation. Without those conditions, the money will not rebuild the country. It will follow the same route as every other flow of funds into the regime's economy.