{"id":110047,"date":"2026-05-12T12:00:22","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T12:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/110047\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T12:00:22","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T12:00:22","slug":"iran-businesses-scale-back-as-inflation-internet-curbs-bite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/110047\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran businesses scale back as inflation, internet curbs bite"},"content":{"rendered":"

A nail and manicure instructor said her business had effectively stopped operating since March last year as customers struggling to cover basic expenses reduced spending on beauty services.<\/p>\n

The woman said internet outages had also cut off income from selling online training packages. At the same time, the signal for her point-of-sale payment terminal had been disabled.<\/p>\n

\"An\"An<\/p>\n

100%<\/p>\n

An AI-generated image shows an Iranian nail and manicure instructor works on a client at her salon.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I followed up, they told me the signal for payment devices used by \u2018non-essential businesses\u2019 had been suspended indefinitely for security reasons,\u201d she told Iran International.<\/p>\n

Industrial firms report layoffs, bankruptcies<\/p>\n

Messages received by Iran International also pointed to growing unemployment and bankruptcies in industries linked to petrochemicals, ports and construction.<\/p>\n

Many workers who lost jobs or faced layoffs said they had turned to ride-hailing services such as Snapp or other unstable work to survive.<\/p>\n

One worker in the industrial sector said the price of steel profiles used in construction had more than doubled since before the war, rising from 700,000 rials ($0.38) per kilogram to 1.55 million rials ($0.85).<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause of these price increases, we\u2019ve been unemployed for three months and can no longer afford raw materials,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Steel profile prices have risen between 120% and 160% over the past year, according to accounts sent to Iran International.<\/p>\n

A cabinet-maker said the price of a single MDF sheet had climbed from 30 million rials ($16.50) last year to between 150 million rials ($82.50) and 170 million rials ($93) this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith raw material costs rising 400% to 470%, continuing the business and paying rent is no longer possible,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Other citizens previously told Iran International that shortages of iron sheets and petrochemical materials in cities including Isfahan had forced many industrial workshops to close.<\/p>\n

Port workers say wages delayed<\/p>\n

Iran International also received reports of layoffs and business slowdowns in ports and logistics hubs.<\/p>\n

An employee at Rajaei Port said many workers had been dismissed and those still employed often received salaries late.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe port has become very quiet,\u201d the worker said.<\/p>\n

Rajaei, one of Iran\u2019s main commercial ports, was hit by a major fire in May 2025 after what authorities described as an explosion involving a container carrying hazardous chemicals including sodium perchlorate. The blast killed dozens of people.<\/p>\n

Several contractors linked to the port had already faced financial difficulties before the explosion and the subsequent war, according to workers familiar with the situation.<\/p>\n

Another resident from Bandar-e Emam wrote that companies linked to the port had reduced staff and struggled to pay wages on time.<\/p>\n

Iranian outlet Rouydad24 reported on May 7 that workers at Mobarakeh Steel had seen wages reduced to the official minimum despite earlier assurances that salaries would be paid without disruption following US and Israeli attacks.<\/p>\n

The report said many skilled workers had turned to app-based taxi driving for income.<\/p>\n

Restaurants squeezed by rising prices<\/p>\n

Restaurants and food businesses have also come under pressure from higher prices and weakening consumer demand.<\/p>\n

The owner of a fast-food restaurant in Lahijan, north of Iran, said the cost of ingredients changed so rapidly that menu prices had to increase almost daily.<\/p>\n

\"An\"An<\/p>\n

100%<\/p>\n

An AI-generated photo shows a fast-food restaurant worker preparing sandwiches at his shop.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ingredients for a sandwich sold today for one million rials ($0.55) may cost 1.1 million rials ($0.60) to replace a few days later,\u201d the restaurant owner wrote to Iran International. \u201cCustomers are unhappy and we are also being hurt by the situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

The decline of the rial had pushed the monthly minimum wage including benefits down to roughly $88 in real terms.<\/p>\n

A restaurant owner in Kish said he had already laid off more than 10 employees and now saw closure as the only remaining option.<\/p>\n

Customers and business owners also reported sharp increases in fast-food prices, with some sandwiches selling for around five million rials ($2.75) and pizzas reaching 1.2 million rials ($6.60).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A nail and manicure instructor said her business had effectively stopped operating since March last year as customers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":110048,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[34,67,63,60,61,64,58,62,59,65,49,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-110047","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-iran","8":"tag-iran","9":"tag-iran-and-china","10":"tag-iran-covid","11":"tag-iran-economy","12":"tag-iran-government","13":"tag-iran-media-iran-and-the-united-states","14":"tag-iran-news","15":"tag-iran-nuclear","16":"tag-iran-politics","17":"tag-iran-us","18":"tag-middle-east","19":"tag-us-sanctions"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116561499036539859","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110047","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110047"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110047\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110048"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110047"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}