I am only saying these people are blinded etc and cannot accept reality. It is very clear that Iran is ahead in science output as of 2013 to present and will leave them in the dust in the future. Also, no, there is denying they are overall ahead of Iran. Ahead in what? They have nothing even worth mentioning. They rely way too much on the outside for their technology etc. In all important areas like space, nuclear, nanotech etc etc Iran is very ahead. We don't even see these people as competition. They are simply too behind.
Economics wise if you mean, then yes they are ahead, however, are you surprised? Iran went through the most severe sanctions in modern times bro. But eventually, they'll be overtaken in this sector as well.
As for resources. That can actually be a curse (search "resource curse"). Saudi Arabia has resources but where are they? No need to assume Turks would be any better off the Saudi Arabia were they resource rich.
No, to be honest even if Turkey had natural resources, it will be even more advanced/developed/productive than it is today. After all, you can also argue that countries like U.K/France,Sweden etc will all be poor if they had natural resources. lol You can't lose what you don't have in the first place. The problem with other middle eastern countries, is that they have no state structures as strong and deeply rooted as the Turkish state. Many other countries in the region had no independent states in a good 400 years during the Ottoman rule. They lack the human resources and institutions, and the ones that they have is not built on a legacy.
Therefore the legal system is faulty, police force is inefficient and the power of the state is not centralized. Which creates unrest, lack of trust in their state and a lack of faith in the future of their society. In the end this turns into a negative image in total of their public.Fortunately Turkey(and Iran to some extent) they don't lack this fundamental base.
Overall, Having some resources is better than no resources, but having resource based industries dominate your economy crowds out all other investment(like in case of Russia and Iran), and that's where the real problem lies. The U.S has a lot of natural resources, but it's still innovative/productive and has a very diversify economy. The hell,even China has quite its fair share of natural resources as well. So having natural resources is no excuse to lag behind(it should instead bean added advantage), just like Scandinavian countries are wealthy/productive while making good use of their natural resources. Turkey has done quite well giving it's lack of natural resources. It's has a GDP per capital of almost $11,000 over twice that of Iran($4700) and is a member of the G-20 world's biggest economies even without natural resources. That in itself is quite impressive.
You saying Iran is lagging behind in this field because of sanctions. Well, as i said you have only yourselves and your leaders/governance to blame for this(even if this was the main reason behind your economic performance, which i believe it's not the main reason, there are other internal reasons as well). So each country has to blame themselves for their current situation not 'others' IMO.
