Iranians Struggle to Afford Groceries as Trump Squeezes Economy
Military.com-Aug 14th2026
In a little over a decade since starting her business in Tehran, Nazanine has weathered U.S. sanctions, successive currency collapses and two wars. This is the first time she’s had to use credit to buy groceries.
“There are days when I don’t have any money,” Nazanine said, asking that her last name and the details of her company be withheld due to the sensitivity of speaking with foreign media. “It really helps to buy my weekly shopping in installments.”
Almost six months since the start of the war, U.S. President Donald Trump is betting that intensifying economic pressure on the Islamic Republic will succeed where military force has failed. He has maintained a months-long naval blockade on Iran’s busiest sea ports, as the two countries remain deadlocked over control of the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran has managed to navigate economic isolation for years, but economists warn that the conflict may drag it into one of the worst economic crises in the history of the nation of 90 million people.
Across Iran’s capital, shop windows are covered in signs advertising interest-free credit and buy-now-pay-later plans. Popular for years for durable goods like furniture or kitchen appliances, their use has surged since the war as retailers extended the option to basic necessities, including food, according to state media reports and almost a dozen people Bloomberg spoke to in the country. Most asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals.
Vulnerable and poor Iranians already make up some 70% of the population, estimates Hadi Kahalzadeh, a non-resident fellow at the Washington-based Quincy Institute.
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