On the sixth day of the US and Israeli military operation against the Islamic Republic, accounts emerging from inside Iran paint a complex picture of daily life during the ongoing crisis. Residents say that in major cities – especially Tehran – life continues with a mixture of fear and hope despite the constant sound of powerful explosions. Many shops remain open, bakery lines are either crowded or quiet depending on the time of day, petrol stations are not experiencing major congestion, and in food markets, there appears to be no serious shortage, not on the surface at least.
However, a new wave of price increases has pushed many families to the brink of hunger and cast a heavy shadow over daily life. Many people say they can no longer afford even basic necessities or to set aside a small supply of food for emergencies. Their daily purchases have increasingly come to resemble an old Persian expression that “relief comes from one pillar to the next” – essentially living day to day in the hope that circumstances will improve.
One resident of an older neighbourhood in Tehran describes the current atmosphere to Independent Persian: “The city is quieter, but not because people have left for the north or other towns. At least on our street all the neighbours are still here. At certain hours, people come outside, gather together and talk. The supermarkets are open and they also take phone orders. Almost all food items can still be found in the market – perhaps because people simply don’t have money left in their pockets to buy them.”
According to this resident, prices have surged in an unprecedented way, with many items experiencing extraordinary increases in just the past week. As an example, they said they purchased a pack of bottled water for 1.2m tomans (£3) and the shopkeeper warned him that the price applied only to existing stock and that the next shipment would be sold at an even higher price.
“You might not believe it, but it hasn’t even been a week since the war began and people have already started recognising the pattern of the explosions. During the hours when nothing happens, they visit one another or go out to shop. Those are the times when stores and petrol stations become busier.”
Asked why some people still go outside despite constant warnings, the resident said: “In almost every family there are one or two people who act recklessly. They go near the explosion sites or stand on rooftops watching everything, which drives the rest of the family crazy. But aside from that, the reality is that most people have no choice but to continue living – even with these risks. Motorcycle couriers, ride-hailing drivers, supermarket workers and even car mechanics have to keep working. It’s not as if everybody has savings or stockpiles they could live off now.”
At the same time, officials of the Islamic Republic repeatedly insist that there is no concern over the supply of essential goods. Iran’s Customs Administration announced that more than 50,000 tonnes of essential commodities have been cleared from ports and customs facilities, and that the process is ongoing. A deputy agriculture minister also said that over the past week between 1,000 and 1,200 tonnes of Iranian rice – including the Tarom Hashemi and Fajr varieties – have been distributed through chain stores.
Yet observations on the ground and people’s accounts present a different and troubling picture. Many say the main problem is not a shortage of goods but the collapse of purchasing power. Families simply cannot afford many of the items they need. Under such conditions, the apparent lack of food shortages in markets may reflect not abundance but the public’s inability to buy what is available.
According to another Tehran resident, even the prices of the most basic food items resemble the volatile rates of foreign currency or gold, changing by the hour. Before the war began, the resident said, a single egg cost around 13,000 tomans (4 pence); now it has reached 15,000 tomans (5 pence). Some sweets, such as zoolbia and bamieh – popular Iranian desserts – have risen so much in price that a kilogram costs no less than 500,000 tomans (£1.60).
“When you walk into a supermarket and see the prices, you think to yourself that even without the war, poverty alone could bring these people to their knees.”
In one such store, the resident saw an older woman selling her government food voucher at 20 per cent below its value so she could buy medicine, and an older man using his voucher to buy nothing more than a packet of chicken feet.
The Tehran resident also noted a clear change in people’s shopping patterns: “Near our house there’s a branch of the Janbo supermarket chain. I’ve been shopping there for about 15 years. I remember days when people filled their carts and you had to stand in line for a long time to pay. Now shopping trolleys are practically unused, because most people only pick up one or two items and go straight to the cashier.”
According to the resident, packages of meat and chicken that remain unsold at the store are discounted as they approach their expiration dates – but even then they find few buyers. “The problem isn’t that goods aren’t available,” they said. “The problem is that people don’t have money to buy them.”
A journalist inside Iran described the current situation to Independent Persian: “The constant, powerful explosions are terrifying and have an almost apocalyptic feel. To be honest, many of us – including me – are frightened by these sounds and worried that something might happen to us or our loved ones. Almost everyone feels this way.
