With relaxed codes governing music, women's dress, business is booming on Iran's resort island of Kish - A haven from Islamic rules
Competing for capital
Tehran wants to use Kish's liberal social and economic climate to stanch the hemorrhage of Iranian capital and lure back citizens who have moved across the Gulf to the freewheeling United Arab Emirates, especially booming Dubai, to escape Iran's conservatism. Iranian parliamentarian Hadi Haqshenas recently complained that Iran's overweening economic rules had triggered the exodus. "The booming economy in the UAE is a direct consequence of Iran's failed policies" in economics and trade, Haqshenas told the English-language paper Iran News. Kish is crammed with duty-free malls and luxury hotels, with new projects springing up by the dozen, including a $2.2 billion golf resort.