One US dollar now costs 2 million rials in Iran, and here’s what it can buy
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- The Iranian rial fell past 2 million per US dollar on the free market, a new all-time low, after Washington launched its toughest sanctions yet aimed at strangling Tehran's economy.
- Food and medicine prices surged since the February 28 war: tomatoes up 71%, chicken up 74%, cooking oil up 177%, insulin up 642%, paracetamol up 93%, and baby formula up 95%.
- War damage and a US naval blockade of Iranian ports disrupted domestic production and complicated imports and exports, adding new pressures on top of existing sanctions.
- Iran's government-approved minimum wage is 166 million rials ($82) per month, rising to less than 220 million rials ($108) with government assistance and benefits, for the calendar year ending March 2027.
- Tehran mother Afsaneh told Al Jazeera her family's weekly grocery bill rose 20-30%, with daycare now costing about 5 million rials ($2.5) per day and plans for new clothes or a car upgrade scrapped entirely.
- Tehran retailer Zamir reported sales dropped 40% year-over-year and predicted many market retailers will go bankrupt before winter ends, with an autumn wave of price increases still ahead.
- Hormozgan fisher and mother Salama said her family's weekly grocery costs jumped from about 500,000 tomans ($2.5) to 5 million tomans ($25), forcing her to cut meat and chicken from their diet.
Why it matters: For Iran's 92 million people, a monthly income of roughly $108 must now cover groceries whose costs have doubled or tripled — insulin alone has risen 642%. The squeeze spans regions and sectors, with Tehran retailers predicting bankruptcies before winter and Hormozgan families already eliminating protein from their diets.
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