A leading economic newspaper in Tehran warned that poverty and inequality in Iran are deepening under intensified international sanctions, saying nearly one-third of the country’s wealth is now concentrated in the hands of just one percent of the population.
In a recent report, Donya-ye-Eghtesad said worsening sanctions have tightened what it described as Iran’s “economic bottlenecks,” accelerating capital concentration while pushing a growing share of households below the poverty line.
The paper pointed to the US Treasury Department’s decision on December 18 to sanction 29 oil tankers and the companies managing them, a move Washington said targeted Iran’s so-called shadow fleet used to bypass sanctions and export oil and petrochemical products.
The United States Department of the Treasury said the vessels and firms had transported hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of Iranian products using deceptive practices.
The measures, the daily warned, would sharply reduce Iran’s foreign currency revenues, compounding pressure on an economy already struggling with inflation, currency depreciation and declining purchasing power.
Rising prices signal widening poverty
The surge in free-market prices for foreign currency and gold, the newspaper said, reflects the spread of poverty, with inflation driven by these increases expected to place additional strain on Iranian households in the coming months.
In recent weeks, both markets have posted repeated record highs, fueling broader inflationary expectations.
Over the past year alone, average food prices in Iran have risen by more than 66 percent, according to figures cited in the report. The paper said inflationary pressures have intensified following renewed UN sanctions and repeated statements by Iranian officials insisting on continuing the country’s nuclear program.
Ali Heidari, an Iran-based economic researcher quoted by Donya-ye-Eghtesad, said inequality in Iran is far worse than the global average.
“About 29 percent of the country’s wealth is held by just one percent of the population,” he said.
Poverty, Heidari added, has expanded rapidly. Around 26 percent of Iranians lived below the poverty line in 2022, he said, rising to 36 percent in 2023 – more than 31 million people. “If data for 2025 become available, the number will almost certainly be higher,” he said.
Who loses, who gains
Retirees, workers and salaried employees, Heidari said, have borne the brunt of economic pressure, as workshops and small businesses cut jobs or reduce working hours under sanctions. By contrast, he said, hoarders and speculative actors have benefited.
He blamed Iran’s tax system for encouraging non-productive and underground economic activity, arguing that weak transparency and incentives for speculation have helped fuel wealth concentration.
Analysts have long warned that Iran’s efforts to evade sanctions have contributed to systemic corruption – a policy Tehran continues to frame as “resistance” against international pressure.
The city’s average air quality index (AQI) reached 116 on Friday, placing it in the “unhealthy for sensitive groups” category, Tehran’s Air Quality Control Company said. The figure marked a sharp deterioration from the previous 24-hour average of 83, which had indicated acceptable conditions.
Since the start of the current Iranian year in March, Tehran has recorded only six days of clean air. Official figures show the capital has experienced 130 days of acceptable air quality, 113 days classified as unhealthy for sensitive groups, 20 unhealthy days for the general population, two very unhealthy days and two days deemed hazardous.
The renewed pollution prompted health warnings urging people with heart and lung disease, children, pregnant women and the elderly to stay indoors and avoid unnecessary travel, IRNA, the state-run news agency, reported on Friday.
Chronic crisis in major cities
Air quality is measured on a scale in which AQI levels between zero and 50 indicate clean air, 51 to 100 acceptable conditions, 101 to 150 unhealthy for sensitive groups, 151 to 200 unhealthy for all, 201 to 300 very unhealthy and 301 to 500 hazardous.
Air pollution has become one of Iran’s most serious public health and environmental challenges in recent years. Major cities including Tehran, Isfahan, Mashhad and Ahvaz regularly experience prolonged periods of unhealthy air, particularly during colder months when temperature inversions trap pollutants close to the ground.
Public frustration has grown as pollution episodes intensify, with many citizens saying that simply breathing clean air has become a daily struggle. Environmental specialists have long warned that weak enforcement, aging vehicle fleets and reliance on highly polluting fuels have worsened the problem.
Critics say government policies, including the burning of heavy fuel oil at power plants during energy shortages, have played a direct role in exacerbating pollution, exposing millions of residents to serious health risks.
Khuzestan cities also affected
Air pollution also affected several cities in the southern province of Khuzestan on Friday. Data from the National Air Quality Monitoring Center showed AQI levels reaching 153 in Khorramshahr and 152 in Molasani, both classified as unhealthy for all population groups.
Other cities, including Abadan, Shushtar, Karun and Haftkel, recorded AQI levels between 108 and 136, placing them in the unhealthy-for-sensitive-groups range. Local media advised residents with underlying health conditions, as well as children and the elderly, to avoid strenuous outdoor activity.
The pollution wave comes as seasonal influenza cases rise across Iran, compounding respiratory health risks. In August, Abbas Shahsavani, deputy head of the Air Quality and Climate Change Research Center at Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, said more than 35,000 deaths nationwide in the previous year were attributed to air pollution, underscoring the scale of a crisis that remains largely unresolved.
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said the newly sanctioned vessels and management companies had transported hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of Iranian petroleum through deceptive shipping practices, primarily to buyers in Asia.
“Treasury will continue to deprive the regime of the petroleum revenue it uses to fund its military and weapons programs," Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence John K. Hurley said.
The sanctioned vessels are registered under a range of flags of convenience, including those of Panama, Palau, the Cook Islands, Barbados, Jamaica and other jurisdictions commonly used by sanctions-evading shipping networks.
According to OFAC, the action brings the total number of vessels sanctioned since Trump returned to office to more than 180, a campaign the Treasury says has raised costs for Iranian oil exporters and reduced the revenue Tehran earns per barrel.
The US campaign targeting the dark fleet has intensified for months. In an October report, analytics firm Kpler said that over 60% of the vessels that have loaded Iranian crude in the last 12 months are now sanctioned by OFAC, up from 38% one year ago.
Still, according to shipping analytics firm Vortexa, Iran's shadow trade to China appears to be operating at full tilt. Export volumes stood at around 1.5-1.7 million bpd so far in 2025, it said, up slightly from last year but a full 25% from 2023.
OFAC said the sanctioned vessels carried Iranian crude oil, fuel oil, bitumen, naphtha and condensate, often operating under flags of convenience and managed by companies set up solely to own and operate individual ships.
The Treasury also designated Egyptian businessman Hatem Elsaid Farid Ibrahim Sakr, accusing his UAE-based companies of playing a key role in transporting Iranian petroleum products in coordination with entities linked to Iran’s Ministry of Defense.
OFAC said vessels associated with Sakr had conducted ship-to-ship transfers of Iranian oil and made port calls at Houthi-controlled ports in Yemen.
The sanctions against Iran's so-called shadow oil fleet could endanger the funding of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, as Iran's budget for this fiscal year had given the sprawling paramilitary body new economic power by tasking it with selling nearly 600,000 barrels of oil per day to fund military expenditures.
Several civil and media activists have been summoned by security and law enforcement bodies after posting critical or analytical content on social media, the sources said.
During the summons, they were warned to refrain from publishing material about fuel and energy price increases so as not to create what officials described as a “tense atmosphere.”
The number of summonses and warning calls has increased in provincial towns, the sources added, with the measures broadened to reach a wider circle of local activists.
Sources also said security personnel have been working extended hours to handle a growing volume of new summonses.
The moves come as the government rolled out a new fuel pricing scheme on earlier in December, introducing a three-tier pricing system for gasoline.
President Masoud Pezeshkian defended the decision on Thursday, saying prices had been adjusted but that the plan imposed “no pressure on anyone.”
Economists have cautioned, however, that higher energy prices are likely to feed directly into transport costs and, in turn, push up prices for other goods and services.
Security agencies appear particularly sensitive to public reaction to fuel prices given the legacy of November 2019, when a sudden gasoline price hike triggered nationwide protests that were met with a sweeping crackdown, leaving many dead and hundreds detained.
