Did anyone claim that Iran has a lack of money? Iran’s problem is sanctions, and the economic isolation that it causes. What country bar North Korea is as isolated as Iran? Except for Iran it’s forced on them, not by choice. Since they can barely export, they need to control whatever foreign currency they have tightly.

Not saying their economic policies have always been great but all things considered they’ve navigated unique economic circumstances reasonably well. They’ve protected domestic industry and science, maintained a diversified economy, managed to keep up reasonably well with modern technology and are even state-of-the-art in some areas like sponge iron and construction.