Iran ranks 94th out of a total 104 countries in Legatum's 2009 Prosperity Index, which measures both a country's wealth and its citizens' well-being. Only Algeria and Yemen ranked lower in the MENA region (96th and 101st, respectively) in 2009.
Masoud Shafaee is an attorney and freelance Middle East analyst based in Washington, D.C. He holds a Juris Doctor from American University's Washington College of Law and a master's degree in international affairs from the School of International Service. He was born in Tehran and hails from California.