Iran is experiencing one of its worst bouts of economic distress in recent memory, with official figures showing food inflation surpassing 115 percent year-on-year and the national currency hitting record lows, as a US naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz compounds the effects of an ongoing conflict. The Statistical Center of Iran reported that the country's overall inflation rate reached 73.5 percent in Farvardin — the first month of the Persian calendar, ending April 20 — while the Central Bank placed the figure slightly lower at 67 percent. Both institutions recorded sharp monthly acceleration, signalling that price pressures are intensifying rather than stabilising.
The human cost is visible in markets across the country. Cooking oil prices have risen by as much as 375 percent compared to a year ago, imported rice by 209 percent, and chicken by 191 percent. A Tehran resident told reporters she can no longer afford items she could buy just a month ago, while a farmer from Saveh — a city roughly 100 kilometres from the capital — described prices rising within a single day. A car mechanic in Tehran said business had fallen to about a tenth of its pre-war level, as consumers cut spending to essentials only. The rial, Iran's embattled currency, has fallen to approximately 1.77 million per US dollar, compared with around 830,000 a year ago.
The Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula through which a significant share of the world's oil passes, has been largely blocked to Iranian exports since US forces imposed the blockade. Iran expert Sanam Vakil of the Chatham House think tank noted that Iran has been unable to export the roughly 1.4 million barrels of oil per day it would normally ship through the strait, directly hitting government revenues and cutting off imports. Adding to the economic damage is a 72-day internet shutdown ordered by Iran's Supreme National Security Council, which experts estimate is costing the private sector between 30 and 40 million dollars per day and has effectively paralysed the country's e-commerce ecosystem.
President Masoud Pezeshkian has urged Iranians to accept the hardships as a temporary consequence of the conflict, calling for national cohesion. The government is distributing monthly cash subsidies and electronic vouchers for essential goods, though the combined value amounts to less than ten dollars per person — a sum rendered increasingly inadequate by spiralling prices. State authorities have declared new cooking-oil price hikes illegal and ordered a rollback, but economists and business owners see little mechanism for enforcement under current conditions. Some state media voices have attributed the price surges to enemy manipulation rather than structural economic causes.
The situation matters beyond Iran's borders. The blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has disrupted global oil supplies, prompting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to urge citizens to reduce petrol and diesel consumption and revive pandemic-era energy-saving habits, as Indian state energy companies report losses of up to ten billion rupees per day from absorbing higher import costs. Analysts warn that if negotiations to end the conflict remain deadlocked, Iran's urban middle class — already squeezed by sanctions, mismanagement, and now war — could eventually reach a breaking point, with experts describing a fresh wave of nationwide protests as a matter of when, not if.