The JCPOA agreement of 2015 on Iran’s nuclear programme, which has resulted in numerous sanctions that had been imposed on the country now being lifted, is considered by Tehran as an indispensable factor in implementing a long-term development strategy. The goal of this paper is to present and analyse the current priorities and directions of Iranian economic policy, including its most important element, namely the energy sector. The starting point is the research question about the meaning and impact of sanctions on the Iranian economy as well as about the impact of lifting these sanctions on Iran’s opportunities for development and its strategic priorities. This paper also analyses a number of objective factors (ones out of Iran’s control) that could block or at least slow down the implementation of this development strategy.