Economy

RFL/RE – Local media in Iran say public institutions such as hospital, prisons, and child-care centers are facing possible food shortages due to skyrocketing prices. The Tehran-based Etemad newspaper reported on June 15 that the impending “problem” could hit in “the coming weeks” and that “food supplies will be disrupted not only in hospitals but also in other government facilities such as …

Al-Monitor – If Iran and world powers fail to salvage the landmark nuclear agreement, the Biden administration warned Thursday that it will continue to use its sanctions authorities to crack down on Iran’s petroleum exports.  The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control unveiled sanctions on a network of Iranian petrochemical producers as well as front companies in China and the United Arab …

As Iran has been put under economic sanctions by the US and West, they have wasted no time in building other paths of trade over the years. New trade routes to the Far East with Russia, China and India are generally well known but what many have failed to observe is their relations with African countries. Raisi in talks with …

Merchants and shopkeepers at bazaars have continued protests in more cities across Iran as the economy reels from U.S. sanctions and the rial weakens to historic lows against the dollar. The Hrana news agency reported on June 15 that mobile phone sellers in the city of Najafabad in Isfahan joined the protests, closing their shops over the instability of the currency and …

Iranwire – The death of an Iranian journalist who reportedly had a heart attack after his rent increased made headlines of many newspapers. Fereydoon Bahrami, a veteran member of the editorial team at Hamshahri, was said to have been in good health but died suddenly shortly after his landlord informed him his rent would be put up several times over, putting him …

RFL/RE – Pensioners and retired public employees have again taken to the streets in the southern city of Ahvaz amid growing discontent over living conditions in Iran and the government’s failure to address the problem.Videos released from the June 14 rally in front of the Ahvaz governor’s office showed demonstrators chanting against what they called the “lies” and “hypocrisy” of the Islamic …

RFL/RE – Oil-tanker-tracking companies estimate that Iran’s oil and natural gas exports have halved due to competition with Russia in Asian markets, as most countries in the West shun Moscow over its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. The data company Kepler, which also provides tanker tracking services, told Radio Farda on June 13 that preliminary estimates showed that Iran’s crude oil and gas …

RFL/RE – Merchants and shopkeepers at bazaars in some Iranian cities have protested a tax increase as the economy reels from U.S. sanctions and the rial weakens to historic lows against the dollar. A day after the rial fell to 33,200 per dollar and rallies were held in Tehran’s bazaars, merchants in Kazerun in Fars Province closed their market on June 13 …

Al-Monitor – Iran and Iraq signed an agreement today aimed at boosting tourist visits between the two neighboring countries.  Iranian Tourism Minister Ezzatollah Zarghami and his Iraqi counterpart, Hassan Nazem, signed the memorandum of understanding in Tehran. The agreement specifically mentioned joint projects on religious tourism following the easing of COVID-19 restrictions, such as facilitating visas, building hotels and investment …

RFL/RE – Iran’s national currency fells to its lowest value ever against the U.S. dollar, hit by continuing U.S. sanctions as talks to revive the global 2015 nuclear deal falter. The rial traded at 332,000 to the dollar on June 12, according to traders in Tehran and the Bonbast.com foreign-exchange website. That made the dollar more expensive to buy from the quoted …