Iran Merger Control

1. Have there been any recent developments regarding the Iran merger control regime and are any updates / developments expected in the coming year? Are there any other 'hot' merger control issues in Iran?

Until 2007, Iran did not have a specific law containing the merger control concept rather than the law on the merger of Cooperative Companies which did not cover another type of companies. In 2007 The Act of Implementation of The Constitution's Article 44 Policies (The Privatization Act) recognized the concept of the merger in article 1 (16). Merger control is the subject of articles 47 and 48. The Executive Instructions of Articles 47, 48, and 49 of the Privatization Act (The Merger Control Executive Instructions) was ratified in 2018.