Why did the Iranian government push its economy towards Dutch disease, even when the consensus of Iranian economists and the majority of the media warned about the consequences of the adopted policies and the symptoms of economic illness? This study shows that Iranian Dutch disease occurred between 2006 and 2009 when a combination of favorable socioeconomic incentives and affirmative structural‐cultural backgrounds, including public acceptance of redistributive policies, short‐term perspectives of life and the development process, institutionalized obedience, and the increasing general perception of corruption, led the government to neglect economists' warnings and insist on its policies.