It cost Kian three and a half times more to fix his office air conditioning last week than it did two years ago, the last time he carried out repairs.
“It cost me 12 million tomans ($72) for the gas refuel and maintenance services,” the marketing worker from a city in central Iran told The National . “Two years ago, I paid just 3.5 million for that, with better AC gas.”
Air conditioning is almost a necessity in Iran, where summer temperatures can reach 50°C. But the hefty price rise is just one of the higher costs that Iran’s 90 million-strong population is facing. The war and policy changes have exacerbated years of high inflation as the government in Tehran struggles to cope with a prolonged economic crisis .
The only silver lining for Kian and his air conditioning is that he does not have to replace the whole unit.
Even the prices of cheaper brands have gone through the roof. Iranian price comparison site Emalls shows that an AC unit made by Chinese firm Hisense has gone up from 61 million tomans to 85 million tomans ($550) in the past three months. Higher quality brands are no longer available in Iran, Kian said.
Political uncertainty over the form and longevity of an agreement between Iran and the US to end the conflict is exacerbating Iranians’ fears about living long-term in a country where increasing costs have crushed many people's quality of life.
“A lot of people are worried because there’s no way the prices of goods, or everything else, go down, at least when there is no actual long-term [peace] deal ,” said Kian. Many people were buying dollars, gold and property to try to preserve their wealth, he added. Like others, he spoke using a pseudonym for security reasons.
Banknotes and gold coins on display in a bazaar in Tehran. Many Iranians are buying dollars, gold and property to try to preserve their wealth. EPA Info
Overall, prices were 77 per cent higher at the end of May than at the same time last year, according to the latest statistics from Iran’s central bank.
Headline inflation figures hide much larger price increases on some items, including essentials such as food. While Iranians report no widespread shortages since the war began, fewer people have enough money to buy what is available.
Quote
They are stuffing people with cheap white bread. When we go to the shops to use the subsidised goods system, it’s the worst quality types of food.
Lilith
, resident of Tehran
Staples of Iranian cooking, including rice and eggs, have tripled in price over the past year, according to a World Food Programme price monitor.
Iranians confirmed those estimates based on prices they see in the shops. “I kid you not, meat is two million tomans ($13) a kilo now,” said Lilith, a resident of the capital, Tehran.
A baker prepares sangak bread at a bakery in Tehran. AFP Info
A one million toman-a-month government handout, can be used to buy basics such as flour, known as , known as kala barg. But the amount is so little – equivalent to around $6.50 – that it covers barely any individual needs. The quality of the goods is substandard, too, Lilith added.
“They are stuffing people with cheap white bread,” she told The National. Healthier wholegrain options are much more expensive. “When we go to the shops to use the kala barg system, it’s not enough for one month, and it’s the worst quality types of food. Things are a mess.”
Prices rise across the board
Essentials such as rent have increased by around 40 per cent, according to the Donya-e Eghtesad newspaper, despite a supposed 27 per cent cap on rises.
Iranians also report paying more to go online now than they did a year ago, in spite of enduring the longest government-imposed internet blackout in recorded history during the war.
“This time last year I was paying 500,000 tomans, now it’s 1.5 to two million,” said Bahman, a tech industry worker in Tehran, for a home and mobile internet package. That includes a VPN, without which he said the internet was “not worth it.” The government restored internet services in May , but Iranians still have to resort to VPNs to gain access to many foreign websites and platforms that are blocked in the country.
Traders such as clothing retailer and coffee shops, and service providers like beauty salons have tried to keep buyers coming through the doors by minimising price increases.
Millions of people were also laid off from their jobs during the war, forcing households who might otherwise have had money to spend to cut back.
“Even before the war, over the last year or two, business in various trades wasn't very good, and their customer numbers had dropped significantly,” said a businessman in Tehran. “That's because people had less cash to hand and were generally buying less. And over the years, we've seen many shopping centres with empty shops. To protect themselves, they haven't been able to increase their prices much.”
All the same, a small increase in Iran can still mean 40 or 50 per cent. “At the barber I go to, six months…
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AE