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Tehran The Leon restaurant, which sits atop a luxury mall in Tehran, features large paintings, a faux fireplace, and jazz, all to complement its fusion menu and fabulous, thick steaks.

Its a place one goes to be seen. So when the check comes, Salar oozing confidence and sporting a wild shock of gelled hair, a stylish plaid shirt, and a leather wristband knows just what to do.

The 31-year-old British-educated Iranian investor hands the waiter his debit card. He then tells him his PIN, raising his voice so anyone within earshot can hear he has embraced a practice common in Iran but unthinkable anywhere else.

When I first came back, I couldnt believe people in Iran shared their PIN numbers like that. Now I sometimes shout it out, says Salar, a pseudonym.

His move back to Tehran is part of a reverse brain drain encouraged by the June 2013 election of President Hassan Rouhani.Shouting out PINs is just one of many quirks embraced by those young professionals educated abroad who have spurned good prospects in the West to return to live and invest here.

Its a bet on the future, and for many a bet on the presidency of Mr. Rouhani, the relatively moderate regime insider who has promised to resolve Irans nuclear issue with world powers and revive an economy crippled by sanctions and tumbling oil prices.

To be sure, returnees like Salar are still a minority. Despite a decade of official efforts to woo home an Iranian diaspora of perhaps five million to tap their cash and expertise, but not any Westernized political thinking the brain drain continues.

Rouhani favors an open-door policy for returnees, whom he calls a huge asset who have love for their country. But security officials who often oppose the president have pushed back, causing a chill among would-be returnees, with a number of high-profile arrests and detentions among those who have returned.

Now 85 percent of my friends I grew up with are not here, they are in Australia, France, the US, Vienna, says Salar, adding that he still wonders if he'd be better off in Dubai.But to be honest, are all of them happy? The number is miniscule.

Salar asked that his real name not be used so he could speak more freely; his chosen pseudonym means "great man." He moved back here in August 2014 after nearly six years in the UK studying finance and accounting, and investing with his brother in an asset portfolio that paid off all school debts.

Read more:
Iran brain drain in reverse? Why some young professionals are going home.