Iranians report rising prices and sporadic shortages of everyday goods and groceries, making it harder to cover basic needs and put food on the table, according to messages sent to Iran International.
Iran International asked ordinary shoppers in Iran to share their experiences of price hikes, the falling value of money, and the daily affordability challenges they face. A series of videos, audio clips, and text messages show mounting hardships.
Relentless price increases and runaway inflation have pushed families to the brink, forcing many to fight to survive rather than live any kind of normal life.
Their messages describe thinning shelves, collapsing purchasing power, and a growing sense that while ordinary people sink deeper into hardship, only profiteers and those connected to power continue to thrive.
“Everything is expensive and people are exhausted from all this inflation. There are no sales, businesses are dead. Only a miracle can save us from this situation,” one message said.
“In Iran, the government doesn’t care about these problems. Right now there is no business. Even if you work 24 hours a day, you’ll still come up short at the end of the month – unless you earn 3 million tomans (about $25) a day, which almost no one does, perhaps only 10% of the population,” another message said. Average Iranian income is about 100 to $150 per month.
Purchasing power
Local media tracking shows that in the past year, food prices in Iran have risen by an average of more than 66%.
Bread and grains are up 100%, fruits and nuts 108%, vegetables 69%, beverages 68%, fish and seafood 52%, and dairy products like milk, cheese and eggs 48%.
“Small retailers are either shut down or semi-closed because prices rise daily and the purchasing power of the middle class and the poor has completely collapsed. Only profiteers and those connected to the corrupt government benefit,” one message said.
“Prices for food, clothing, medicine, doctor visits, car parts – everything – are extremely high. Ninety percent of people fight just to survive, not to live.”
Daily rise
Other messages said conditions worsened after the 12-day war with Israel in June and the subsequent return of UN sanctions.
“I swear I haven’t bought red meat for a year. Same with chicken. After the 12-day war, I lost my job and my wife and children left me,” one message said.
Based on the accounts, some families have eliminated dairy except for cheese, stopped buying seasonal clothing, and cut out snacks entirely.
Dining out, visiting coffee shops, and even holding family gatherings have all but disappeared. For many, buying birthday gifts for children is no longer possible.
“This is our situation as a semi-affluent family above the poverty line. I can’t even imagine what life is like for those below it,” another message said.
MuddyWater, also known as Mango Sandstorm or TA450, has links to Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and National Security and has targeted government and infrastructure in the Middle East and beyond since at least 2017.
Researchers said victims in Israel included technology, engineering, manufacturing, local government and education sectors. They said the group used new custom tools to improve its ability to hide and stay active inside networks, including a backdoor called MuddyViper that can gather system data, run commands, move files and steal Windows credentials and browser data.
The report said the attackers used Fooder, a loader that reflects malware into memory and at times imitates the classic Snake game, to deploy MuddyViper. It said the group also used several credential stealers and avoided interactive sessions to reduce detection.
Researchers said the campaign relied on spearphishing emails that sent victims to installers for remote monitoring tools hosted on free file sharing sites. They said the operators used a range of malware, including VAX One, which imitates products such as Veeam and AnyDesk.
Past MuddyWater operations include attacks in Saudi Arabia and campaigns that overlapped with Lyceum, suggesting the group may serve as an initial access broker for other Iran linked actors.
