On streets of Tehran, Iranians describe daily struggles and cautious hopes

Washington Post

24-05-2025

TEHRAN — For many in Iran's capital city, years of sanctions, mismanagement and corruption have meant learning to make do with less and putting dreams on hold.
In the past year alone, the Iranian rial has lost half its value. Companies, cut off from international banking systems by Western sanctions, struggle to raise capital or attract customers. Inflation is so high, many report that grocery store prices seem to change almost daily.
Washington Post interviews with people across Tehran offered a rare window into the lives and economic struggles of the country's urban middle class — mired in a status quo that feels stagnant but stable, at least for now.
Against this backdrop, Iranian leaders entered into complex and delicate negotiations with the United States last month, seeking sanctions relief in exchange for limits on the country's nuclear program. A fifth round of talks in Rome on Friday made 'some but not conclusive progress,' according to the mediator, Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi. The two sides remain at an impasse over the central issue, with U.S. officials suggesting they will push for zero enrichment of nuclear material and Iran insisting such a position would render a deal impossible.
Some have interpreted the Iranian government's decision to engage as a reflection of weakness. Officials, analysts and ordinary citizens in Iran paint a more nuanced picture — of a country hungry for change but far from the breaking point.
'It is difficult, but we have found a way to manage,' said Mariam, 37, sitting with her childhood friend Sarah in a manicured park in central Tehran while their children played nearby. Both women said they were generally supportive of the system in Iran, even if 'some politicians only care about filling their pockets,' Sarah quipped.
Like others in this story, they spoke on the condition that they be identified by their first names for fear of repercussions from authorities.
Both women are middle class. They own the homes they live in and were able to stop working when they had children, supported by their husbands' wages. They said they've adjusted to inflation and other economic pressures with frugality: The kids get fewer toys and new clothes, and family vacations are rare.
Although Mariam is comfortable with the new normal, she said there's 'no way' the country can endure sanctions indefinitely.
'This younger generation is different from our generation,' she said with a slight smile. 'My husband worked as a teenager. But we tell our own children to study, not to work; they're less resilient than us.' When her son was out of earshot, she lovingly complained to her friend that he was gaining weight from eating too much ice cream.
Esfandyar Batmanghelidj, the chief executive of the Bourse & Bazaar Foundation, a London-based think tank that tracks Iran's economy, said household income data has shown structural adjustment — even improvement — since last year.
'There has been this kind of adaptation to the new reality,' he said, referring to the sanctions reimposed in 2018 during President Donald Trump's first term, followed soon after by the coronavirus pandemic. 'It seems like the country is coming out of the darkest period of its economic situation.'
Although Iran still has 'profound' challenges related to inefficiencies and mismanagement — illustrated most recently by widespread power outages — the data does not suggest a country 'on the precipice of economic collapse,' Batmanghelidj said.
Since returning to office, Trump has tightened sanctions on Iran, largely targeting individuals and entities involved in exporting oil to China. But the rial has rebounded slightly since the resumption of talks with the United States.
Even if Iran isn't experiencing a runaway economic crisis, its leaders still have significant incentives to pursue sanctions relief, according to Batmanghelidj. Looking across the Persian Gulf at the glittering cities of the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, 'they are getting the sense that they're being left behind.'
Iranian officials have repeatedly made the argument that Washington's maximum pressure campaign has failed to break the country.
'They have accepted that Iran is powerful in certain areas, and for this reason, they have sat down at the negotiating table with us,' said former Iranian atomic agency chief Fereydoon Abbasi in an interview with an Iranian news outlet. 'If we were a weak country, they would definitely attack us.'
Inside Iran, even those who support the talks speak about them with a jaded weariness, a contrast with the buoyant national mood in the lead-up to the first nuclear deal negotiated with the Obama administration. When the accord was signed in 2015, people in Tehran danced in the streets.
Some attribute the lack of excitement this time to a general disillusionment with the Iranian regime, which hardened for many after security forces violently put down nationwide protests in 2023. Others have a dim view of Trump, who withdrew from the Obama-era nuclear deal and in 2020 ordered the killing of Qasem Soleimani, then the country's most celebrated military commander.
'After Trump killed Soleimani, of course there is no trust,' said a woman shopping on the edge of a northern Tehran bazaar. 'Our martyrs, they are very important to us,' she said, pausing as she searched for words. 'We really love them.'
Across Tehran, there are portraits commemorating fallen political and military leaders. Soleimani's face is still among the most prominent, adorning government buildings, residential apartment blocks and highway overpasses.
Like other supporters of the regime, the woman said she supports talks with the United States but isn't getting her hopes up. 'Let's see what happens,' she said, shrugging.
Many Iranians are less forgiving of their country's leadership, even in the relative bubble of Tehran, which receives more resources than other parts of the country. At an upscale mall lined with gold shops, boutiques of imported clothing and knockoff designer shoes, 44-year-old Nirvana said the poor economy had forced her to rethink her future.
'I used to want to get married, but now I see my friends and how hard it is for them,' she said. Monthly rents in Tehran have skyrocketed, and people's salaries aren't keeping up. 'It's better to stay at home with your parents.'
At a nearby shop owned by Sahriar, 46, and his wife, Bahar, 43, the couple said they decided not to have children, citing the lack of economic opportunity. 'Children don't have a future here,' said Sahriar.
If things don't change soon, he said, it's probably just a matter of months before he'll no longer be able to make rent on his store. Though the city's shopping malls look busy, most people just come to walk, he said; very few buy anything.
The lack of purchasing power was also apparent in the carpet section of Tehran's grand bazaar. Shops were stocked with inventory from floor to ceiling, but customers were hard to find.
'My wife is a teacher. It used to be that on a teacher's salary, you could save to buy a nice carpet, but now no one can save,' said Mustafa, 41, who works in the bazaar as a kind of personal shopper, guiding potential buyers to the right shops.
'All our money goes to the essentials, nothing extra,' he said.
Mustafa wonders if Iran's leaders are unaware of the situation for people like him, or if they're just indifferent. He's become so frustrated, he said, that he hopes the nuclear talks will fail and hasten the fall of the regime.
'I hope the government is overthrown,' said Mustafa, acknowledging that such a scenario would probably be chaotic and dangerous. 'Everything has a price. I'm ready to be destroyed if it means that future generations will be happy,' he said.