Saeed, a 26 year old elementary school teacher in Tehran, says he is disheartened as he searches for higher paying work after months of conflict with the United States and a naval blockade of Iranian ports.
“You take one look at the condition of job postings you can find online or in person, and you will understand why some young people feel like it’s not even worth it going out for work,” Saeed told Al Jazeera. “But the expenses don’t go away.”
Saeed, who holds a master’s degree in Persian literature, said many educated Iranians like him are now hunting for any possible opening, no matter their background, because simply feeding themselves has become a daily struggle.
People in jobs such as teaching, cashier work and sales earn less than 200 million rials a month, which is about $107 at current exchange rates, according to Saeed. Some positions pay even less than the basic monthly minimum wage of roughly 166 million rials, or $88.
He described employers who decline to offer insurance, demand 12 hour shifts, sometimes six days a week, and then invent reasons to reduce wages, aware that workers have few alternatives.
For someone earning the minimum wage plus government support, 1kg of lamb now costs around 10 percent of a full month’s earnings, and 10kg of Iranian rice takes up more than a fifth of that income. Housing, utilities, transport and healthcare have also grown sharply more expensive.
At the end of the previous Iranian calendar year in March, the government approved a 60 percent increase in the basic minimum wage, a step that carried the risk of printing more money and fueling inflation. At the time, the cost of a subsistence package for an average 3.3 person worker household was estimated at 430 million rials, about $230.
Those decisions unfolded as economic shockwaves from the war waged by the United States and Israel against Iran spread, and after two state imposed internet shutdowns, including one during nationwide protests in January in which thousands of people were killed. The pressure compounded long standing problems driven by decades of corruption, mismanagement and sanctions from the United States and the United Nations.
Millions of Iranians are struggling to preserve their livelihoods, yet the country’s embattled economy is still far from collapse after more than five months of conflict. The resource rich nation of more than 92 million people has developed a relatively diversified economy for a major oil exporter, building self sufficiency over decades in the face of embargoes and confrontations with Washington, Israel and the West.
Still, the combination of sanctions and war is hitting households directly. Data from the Statistical Center of Iran released at the end of July put year on year inflation at about 88 percent.
Food inflation stood at more than 128 percent compared with a year earlier, meaning the same basket of food cost roughly 2.28 times what it did in July 2025. Among major food groups, inflation reached 261 percent for oils and fats, 147 percent for milk, cheese and eggs, and 145 percent for meat and poultry.
While prices rose at a pace not seen in more than eight decades, jobs disappeared across most industries in 2026. Youth unemployment reached 23.4 percent in the spring, up 3.7 percent from a year earlier. Overall unemployment was 9.1 percent in the same period, but labour force participation stood at only 40 percent, leaving most working age Iranians outside the official labour market, many of them in irregular and informal jobs.
Even those who own assets are feeling the strain. Yashar, a 38 year old who co owns a grocery shop in the northern city of Lahijan with his mother, said they also have their own home and a second small shop rented to a tenant. “From the outside it might seem like we’re well-off, but to us, it feels the opposite because the rent and my mother’s pension can barely keep up with the basic costs, let alone any extra purchases or savings. Business at the shop is terribly slow. We’re always falling short of the money we need for the next purchase of goods to sell,” he said.
President Masoud Pezeshkian said last week that the war and the US naval blockade of Iran’s southern ports have raised costs for his cash strapped government. “We could sell oil, and now we can’t. They have also struck and destroyed some of our factories, so we can’t levy taxes in the same way either. We must also pay them so they can stay up and running and the wheels of the economy can spin,” he said.
Pezeshkian’s administration is also seriously considering a significant increase in petrol prices, following another hike in December, as well as tighter caps on monthly fuel quotas for personal vehicles. The government has been cautious because previous price rises helped trigger nationwide protests.
Pezeshkian and other senior establishment figures have backed a diplomatic resolution with Washington, but no agreement appears close. Talks continue with Oman and other mediators over arrangements for shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
Ladan, 28, works an office job in Tehran and also runs an Instagram shop selling necklaces, bracelets and trinkets to make ends meet. She said the extra hustle sometimes feels pointless because it offers no real chance of sustained growth. Last week, after closing more than a dozen online sales, she made only about 20 million rials, less than $11 in profit.
“I’m so sick and tired of everything. But even though I live with my parents and don’t have to pay rent, I can’t even buy myself a Pride because, at the end of the day, I’m earning in rials,” she said, referring to the cheapest domestic car, known among Iranians as the “chariot of death” for its poor safety record. It costs up to 10 billion rials, about $5,350.
As authorities brace for another possible confrontation over the strategic waterway and other disputes, ordinary Iranians continue to pay the highest price among all stakeholders and consumers affected around the world.
