Nearly six months after military conflicts broke out involving the United States, Israel, and the Islamic Republic, a reinstated US naval blockade off Iran's southern coast has brought the nation’s primary commercial lifelines to a virtual halt. Following a brief one-month pause after the Islamabad Memorandum, maritime enforcement resumed in mid-July. Since then, the chokehold on the Persian Gulf has disrupted over 80% of Iran's heavy imports and non-oil exports.
With official inflation nearing 70% — and point-to-point food inflation surging to an unprecedented 128% in recent history — alongside a nearly 40% drop in non-oil trade compared to pre-war levels, ordinary citizens are left carrying the crushing financial weight. In an exclusive series of interviews with Euronews Farsi, Iranian citizens across various sectors described how the blockade has dismantled their livelihoods, forced household austerity, and reshaped daily life. The maritime blockade has devastated logistics networks that rely on southern ports like Bandar Abbas.
Gisoo, a 45-year-old international shipping specialist based in Tehran, works directly with container movements. "Since the war began, maybe one out of ten cargo ships leaving China actually reaches Iran," Gisoo told Euronews. "Containers that used to take 35 days now sit stuck in Hong Kong, Karachi, or Jebel Ali for months.
UAE ports are no longer allowing Iranian dhows to dock." Maritime freight rates jumped from $3,000 to nearly $10,000 per container, while overland transport from China now costs at least $16,000. Rerouting cargo via Mersin in Turkey has created massive bottlenecks, leaving shipments stranded for weeks while storage fees accumulate. Land routes also require multiple unloadings and reloadings, which frequently damage sensitive goods.
Because Gisoo's income relies on commissions per completed shipment, her earnings have plummeted, she added. Regarding the political fallout, Gisoo voiced scepticism about sudden systemic change, stating that fear from previous crackdowns keeps most people from taking to the streets. With operations at Bandar Abbas down from thousands of daily truckloads to a mere trickle, drivers have been forced to rely on poorly equipped land crossings like Rimdan on the border with Pakistan.
Aras, a 60-year-old long-haul trucker from Kermanshah, described the Rimdan border as essentially lawless. Cargo from Pakistan now enters through Rimdan, but that border lacks basic infrastructure — no facilities, no dust control, just extreme heat," Aras told Euronews Farsi. "Fetching a load from Rimdan to Tehran pays around 250 million tomans (€1,086), but few drivers are willing to go." Aras further detailed how operational costs for vehicle upkeep have skyrocketed under the blockade.
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