Iran’s economy appears to be deteriorating sharply as the United States maintains its blockade of Iranian ports alongside a sweeping sanctions regime.
The US Treasury has imposed a series of economic, trade, and military sanctions on Iran since the 1979 revolution, adding a further 1,000 individuals, vessels, and aircraft to its sanctions list since early 2025.
As negotiations between Washington and Tehran stall and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz persists, daily life for Iranians is becoming increasingly difficult. Food prices continue to surge amid persistently high inflation.
Overall inflation is estimated at around 73.5%, with food and beverage prices rising by a staggering 115%. The minimum wage remains below 170 million rials ($92) per month, despite being raised by roughly 60% last March.
The Iranian rial has continued to depreciate on the open market, reaching approximately 1.9 million rials to the dollar this week—less than half its value a year ago.
This decline reflects a deepening crisis of confidence in the national currency, exacerbated by dwindling foreign exchange inflows due to the ongoing oil embargo. Oil blockade severs Iran's main lifeline The continued US blockade on shipping to Iranian ports has effectively cut off the country from oil exports, its primary source of revenue.
Economists warn that as storage capacity nears its limit, Tehran may be forced to scale back oil and gas production if the blockade persists.
Speaking at a White House press conference on Tuesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio claimed the blockade alone is costing Iran up to $500 million per day in lost revenue, warning that the country’s currency is “in total and complete freefall”.
Rubio added that US-imposed sanctions were “crippling” Iran’s economy, threatening that the Treasury is working to “identify and cut off every dollar of revenue flowing through this regime”.
Iranian authorities, however, have sought to reassure the public, pointing to alternative land and rail routes for trading oil with neighbouring and friendly countries.
Meanwhile, Iranian reports indicate that Central Bank Governor Abdolnasser Hemmati has urged President Masoud Pezeshkian to take urgent steps to stabilise the economy, including restoring internet access.
Iran has experienced a widespread internet blackout for 68 days , according to NetBlocks, inflicting significant damage on the country’s digital economy. Estimates suggest losses of between $30 million and $80 million per day, as disruptions have paralysed e-commerce, logistics, and technology sectors. Deteriorating labour market Initial estimates suggest that the US-Israeli war on Iran has resulted in the loss of more than one million jobs, according to Deputy Labour Minister Gholam Hossein Mohammadi. Approximately two million people are believed to have been directly or indirectly affected by unemployment.
Mohammadi said the losses were partly due to damage inflicted on more than 23,000 factories and companies during waves of strikes by Washington and Tel Aviv.
Government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani estimated total damage to infrastructure, residential property, and commercial buildings at around $270 billion—roughly nine times Iran’s 2025 budget and equivalent to about 60% of GDP.
Data from Iranian job platform IranTalent shows that available job listings have fallen by 80% this year. Separate figures from JobVision reported a record 318,000 CV submissions in a single day on Tuesday - a 50% increase from the previous record of 212,000.