‘Limited options’ for many Iranians as war with US chokes economy
Al Jazeera
•Sun, 16 Aug 2026 11:38:50 +0000
📰 What Happened
As months of war with the United States and its naval blockade of Iranian ports continued, ordinary Iranians described shrinking options for earning a living. A 26-year-old Tehran resident named Saeed, a teacher with a master's degree in Persian literature, told Al Jazeera he was searching constantly for any better-paying work as his expenses mounted. He described a job market where employers offer low pay, refuse to provide insurance and demand 12-hour days, sometimes six days a week, knowing workers have few alternatives. Saeed said teachers, cashiers and salespeople earn monthly salaries below 200 million rials, roughly $107 at the current exchange rate, with some jobs paying less than the official monthly minimum wage of about 166 million rials, around $88.
🔍 The Backstory
Iran's economic crisis long predates the current war, rooted in decades of international sanctions that have cut it off from global finance and technology. The reimposition of sweeping US "maximum pressure" measures, followed by an open conflict and a naval blockade of Iranian ports, dealt a further crushing blow, strangling oil exports and imports essential to everyday life. The result has been soaring inflation, a collapsed currency and youth unemployment pushed far above an already high rate. For a country where education has long been seen as the route to opportunity, the spectacle of graduates working menial jobs for poverty wages carries deep psychological weight.
🎯 Why It Matters
The personal accounts from Tehran are a window into the human cost of a war being fought as much through economics as through weapons. Iran's ability to endure economic strangulation has long been central to its strategy, and this story tests whether that endurance has a limit. If the blockade and inflation push living conditions past what Iranians will tolerate, the internal political consequences for Tehran could rival anything the military conflict produces.
As months of war with the United States and its naval blockade of Iranian ports continued, ordinary Iranians described shrinking options for earning a living. A 26-year-old Tehran resident named Saeed, a teacher with a master's degree in Persian literature, told Al Jazeera he was searching constantly for any better-paying work as his expenses mounted. He described a job market where employers offer low pay, refuse to provide insurance and demand 12-hour days, sometimes six days a week, knowing workers have few alternatives. Saeed said teachers, cashiers and salespeople earn monthly salaries below 200 million rials, roughly $107 at the current exchange rate, with some jobs paying less than the official monthly minimum wage of about 166 million rials, around $88.
Iran's economic crisis long predates the current war, rooted in decades of international sanctions that have cut it off from global finance and technology. The reimposition of sweeping US "maximum pressure" measures, followed by an open conflict and a naval blockade of Iranian ports, dealt a further crushing blow, strangling oil exports and imports essential to everyday life. The result has been soaring inflation, a collapsed currency and youth unemployment pushed far above an already high rate. For a country where education has long been seen as the route to opportunity, the spectacle of graduates working menial jobs for poverty wages carries deep psychological weight.
The personal accounts from Tehran are a window into the human cost of a war being fought as much through economics as through weapons. Iran's ability to endure economic strangulation has long been central to its strategy, and this story tests whether that endurance has a limit. If the blockade and inflation push living conditions past what Iranians will tolerate, the internal political consequences for Tehran could rival anything the military conflict produces.