Every week, the shopping lists of Iranians become shorter as inflation soars and purchasing power plunges.“As things disappear from the dining table, fruit goes first, then dairy products, then anything considered non-essential,” a woman in the Iranian capital, Tehran, said in an audio message sent to RFE/RL’s Radio Farda.“Ultimately, everything we buy is only essentials, but even then, nothing is affordable,” added the woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons.She is among the millions of Iranians who are grappling with the economic fallout from Iran’s five-month-long war with the United States and Israel.
Years of international sanctions and government mismanagement had already crippled Iran's economy. But the war has pushed the country of some 90 million people to the verge of economic collapse.The United States and Israel's bombing campaign has left some of Iran's infrastructure and industries in tatters, fueling runaway inflation and joblessness. Even as unemployment has increased, the prices of basic food items, medication, and utilities have soared.Another woman in Tehran said the prices of staples are increasing almost daily.A kilogram of potatoes cost 540,000 rials ($0.39) last week, she said, compared to 720,000 rials ($0.52) today. The price of a tray of 30 eggs, she said, went up from 4,000,000 rials ($2.90) to 5,700,000 rials ($4.15) in just a week. Bread prices, meanwhile, have doubled from a year ago in Tehran.“Don’t even get me started on fruit -- it’s extremely expensive,” the woman said in an audio message sent to Radio Farda. “We simply can’t afford it. We run out of money before the end of the month.”In Iran, the minimum monthly salary is around $100. According to Iranian media outlets, an average family of four is now spending around 70 percent of their income on basic food items.The 48-year-old woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons, said many Iranians are “quietly heading toward death.”“I’ve given up on myself,” she added. “All I worry about is my child’s future, because they have no future.”
