As the United States implements its policy of “economic exclusion,” supporters of the Iranian regime speak of resilience. But in the view of many citizens, ordinary people are paying the main price for this isolation through empty tables, businesses on the verge of collapse, and deteriorating livelihoods.
Meanwhile, there is a deep gap between the official narrative and what is unfolding in society. While some government supporters on social media view these sanctions as a “resilience test” for the people of Iran, who have supposedly grown accustomed to them over the decades, the reality of citizens’ daily lives is miles away from these slogans.
The Death of Price Tags in Supermarkets
A middle-aged man who owns a small grocery store in a neighborhood in southern Tehran speaks with despair about the brutal fluctuations in prices. He explains that he stopped putting price tags on his merchandise long ago because the prices printed on the goods lose their validity even before the products reach the customer.
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According to him, instability is no longer limited to the gold and dollar markets; consumer goods and people’s daily necessities are also subject to changes on a daily and even hourly basis.
He says bitterly that he can clearly see people’s purchasing power shrinking before his eyes. His regular customers shorten their shopping lists month after month, while the store’s credit ledger continues to grow.
Regime Supporters Profit From Sanctions
This crushing pressure is not limited to supermarkets; it has also paralyzed the very heart of commerce.
The impact of sanctions on the regime cannot be denied, but it should not be forgotten how a group known as “sanctions profiteers” makes a living by circumventing these restrictions and pockets huge profits. It is precisely these enormous financial interests that cause the small circle of loyalists to the system to become even more closely tied to the regime.
With financial dealings with the outside world cut off, the possibility of trade has effectively disappeared, and the limited exports that were previously carried out with great difficulty through unofficial channels have become completely impossible with the imposition of new sanctions. This marks the end of decades of efforts by family-run and small businesses.
It is this bitter combination of international isolation, crippling sanctions, and domestic mismanagement that has placed the heaviest burden on ordinary people and established businesses.
Sharp Decline in Childbearing
Perhaps the most tangible, concrete, and at the same time painful face of this runaway inflation can be seen in the expenses faced by families with infants and children.
The mother of an infant reveals the growing inability of families to meet their children’s most basic needs.
Providing a rough calculation, she estimates the monthly cost of meeting a child’s completely ordinary, everyday needs at about 150 million rials (approximately $75). This is while the minimum monthly wage of a worker with one child and one year of work experience barely reaches $120.
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According to this mother, the price of a very simple and basic plastic toy has reached 2 million rials (approximately $1), let alone educational and intellectual toys, which carry astronomical price tags.
But the real crisis becomes apparent when special dietary needs or a child’s illness are involved. She explains that the price of infant formula for babies suffering from gastric reflux, such as the “Aptamil AR” brand, has reached an exorbitant 45 million rials because of severe shortages in the market and illegal, smuggled imports through the borders of the Kurdistan Region or Turkey.
A Return to the Past; Replacing Diapers With Cloth
The inflation crisis in children’s hygiene products has also left families desperate. The price of a package of diapers has risen from 2.5 million rials to 9 million rials since January.
This price surge has been so crippling that it has forced many families to return to using training pants and washable cloth diapers; each of these items also costs parents about 10 million rials (approximately $5). This long list also includes visits to subspecialist doctors costing 8 million rials, several-million-rial expenses for vitamin drops, and a 100% increase in the price of domestically produced detergents.
The Plight of the Younger Generation in “Wonderland”
The heavy shadow of sanctions and the freefall in the value of the national currency have also left the future and daily lives of the younger generation in a state of limbo.
Despite every effort to save money and quickly convert income into gold or dollars, domestic inflation is accelerating at such a frightening pace that expenses continually outstrip savings.
A student who is trying to immigrate to Germany explains that the registration fee alone for the IELTS language test is about $300, but when that amount is converted into tomans, paying it becomes a terrible nightmare for a student.
He says that in these turbulent conditions, no one feels comfortable making purchases because waking and sleeping in this country is accompanied by bizarre price fluctuations. A product that was worth 300 million rials the previous day may be sold for 400 or 500 million rials the next morning. Replacing electronic devices such as laptops or smartphones also requires budgets of several hundred million rials, beyond the means of most young people.
The intertwined accounts of citizens from different cities across Iran clearly and without any concealment show that, contrary to officials’ official rhetoric about national resistance and resilience, it is the fragile structure of ordinary people’s daily lives and livelihoods that is being crushed under the heavy burden of international sanctions.
The combination of severe and crippling economic isolation with inefficient administrative structures has not only further marginalized and weakened the middle class, but has also turned meeting the most essential and basic human needs into a grueling, bitter, and daily struggle for survival.
