Tehran, Iran – Iranians born in the 1980s have often considered themselves to be the “burned generation”, living in a period marked by the political and economic turbulence that followed Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution. The United States embassy hostage crisis, when Iranian activists in 1979 detained American diplomats and others for 444 days, set the tone for a decade ahead. What followed in the 1980s was eight years of gruelling war with neighbouring Iraq, a cultural revolution undertaken by the nascent Islamic Republic, the executions of political prisoners, sanctions and economic uncertainty.
Bardia, a 23-year-old living with his parents in eastern Tehran, said many people his age feel they have it even worse than the 1980s generation, due to worsening sanctions creating an even more volatile job market and inflation. Decades of domestic mismanagement and corruption paired with external intervention have made life difficult for most of the about 90 million Iranians, even before the US and Israeli war on the country began on February 28. Months of US bombing, intensified sanctions, and naval blockades have significantly worsened the situation this year, in addition to the January antigovernment protests and state-sanctioned restrictions on internet use by the population.
Last week, the government hiked petrol prices, which will likely have an inflationary effect, with a feeling that the situation will get worse before it gets better. For people like Bardia, who works at a cafe in downtown Tehran while studying for a business administration degree, it is difficult just to get by. Bardia’s pensioner father is working with online ride-hailing apps and using a 15-year-old low-quality Iranian car to make some money.
His mother is a retired garment worker who makes intermittent earnings from sewing at home. After accounting for government cash subsidies and food assistance, the family have about 800 million rials (about $350 at the current exchange rate) per month, while expenses are surging by the day. They can no longer afford to eat out or get takeaway, buy new clothes or household appliances, and are hoping that their medical bill does not upend their household budget.
By late August, year-on-year inflation was at 89 percent, while food inflation stood at more than 127 percent compared with the same month last year, according to the latest figures released by the Statistical Center of Iran. Iran’s national currency has also continued on a downward spiral, hitting a new all-time low of more than 1.37 million rials per US dollar in Tehran’s open market last week. The rate slightly improved to about 1.31 million on Sunday, after Iranian media said an understanding with Oman over facilitating limited transit through the Strait of Hormuz might materialise before planned talks with regional states in Oman on Monday.
But Iran still insists that negotiations with the US will not happen until Tehran’s conditions for Hormuz, lifting the blockade, the sanctions and other demands are met. In the meantime, a maritime blockade has halted most Iranian oil exports, while US sanctions and regional tensions have blocked or hampered air, overland and rail routes, making life difficult for Iranians. I also remember the day my dad bought a piece of land with 10 million tomans.
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