‘We can’t afford to live’ — Iranian citizens bemoan economic woes

Ordinary Iranians say soaring prices and a plunging currency are making food and medical care increasingly unaffordable.

By World Israel News Staff

Iranian civilians are struggling to afford basic necessities, including food and medical care, as the country grapples with the financial fallout of Operation Epic Fury and a new round of crippling U.S. sanctions that President Donald Trump has described as an “economic D-Day.”

The worsening economic conditions are hitting ordinary Iranians particularly hard, with the country’s currency losing significant value and the prices of essential goods soaring since the conflict began in late February 2026.

But according to a report by the Jewish Chronicle, Iranians who want to protest their deteriorating economic circumstances face another obstacle — the threat of being accused of treason and punished by the regime.

The report cited testimony from Iranians who said that corruption, sanctions and the government’s response to dissent have combined to create increasingly difficult conditions for ordinary citizens.

In a video viewed by the JC, one senior citizen described the devastating impact of the economic crisis on his household.

“My pension doesn’t even pay for a week of our food, let alone rent and other expenses. How are we supposed to live?” he says in the clip.

“And if we go out to protest against the situation, they call us Mossad agents and kill us.”

Babak, an Iranian citizen currently living in the country who spoke to the JC under a pseudonym to protect himself from retaliation, said corruption has compounded the impact of decades of sanctions.

“For the past 47 years, we have been living under sanctions. We have become poorer and poorer, while the regime’s oligarchs have become richer and richer,” Babak told the outlet.

“I am an educated person, working as a doctor, and even I cannot afford to live,” he added.

“Fewer patients are coming to see us because they cannot afford medical care or medication.”

Babak also accused members of the Iranian establishment of exploiting shortages of essential goods for personal gain.

He said that “the children of regime officials” were using the economic crisis to their advantage, claiming that relatives of well-connected government figures receive preferential access to imported medicines.

Those importers then “sell [the medications] at several times the price and profit from the sanctions. They make money out of our misery.”