Iran businesses scale back as inflation, internet curbs bite
Businesses across Iran are cutting jobs, scaling back operations and facing possible closure as internet disruptions, inflation and the economic fallout from war deepen pressure on employers and consumers, according to messages sent to Iran International.
A nail and manicure instructor said her business had effectively stopped operating since March last year as customers struggling to cover basic expenses reduced spending on beauty services.
The woman said internet outages had also cut off income from selling online training packages. At the same time, the signal for her point-of-sale payment terminal had been disabled.
Businesses across Iran are cutting jobs, scaling back operations and facing possible closure as internet disruptions, inflation and the economic fallout from war deepen pressure on employers and consumers, according to messages sent to Iran International.
A nail and manicure instructor said her business had effectively stopped operating since March last year as customers struggling to cover basic expenses reduced spending on beauty services.
The woman said internet outages had also cut off income from selling online training packages. At the same time, the signal for her point-of-sale payment terminal had been disabled.
An AI-generated image shows an Iranian nail and manicure instructor works on a client at her salon.
“When I followed up, they told me the signal for payment devices used by ‘non-essential businesses’ had been suspended indefinitely for security reasons,” she told Iran International.
Industrial firms report layoffs, bankruptcies
Messages received by Iran International also pointed to growing unemployment and bankruptcies in industries linked to petrochemicals, ports and construction.
Many workers who lost jobs or faced layoffs said they had turned to ride-hailing services such as Snapp or other unstable work to survive.
One worker in the industrial sector said the price of steel profiles used in construction had more than doubled since before the war, rising from 700,000 rials ($0.38) per kilogram to 1.55 million rials ($0.85).
“Because of these price increases, we’ve been unemployed for three months and can no longer afford raw materials,” he said.
Steel profile prices have risen between 120% and 160% over the past year, according to accounts sent to Iran International.
A cabinet-maker said the price of a single MDF sheet had climbed from 30 million rials ($16.50) last year to between 150 million rials ($82.50) and 170 million rials ($93) this year.
“With raw material costs rising 400% to 470%, continuing the business and paying rent is no longer possible,” he said.
Other citizens previously told Iran International that shortages of iron sheets and petrochemical materials in cities including Isfahan had forced many industrial workshops to close.
Iran International also received reports of layoffs and business slowdowns in ports and logistics hubs.
An employee at Rajaei Port said many workers had been dismissed and those still employed often received salaries late.
“The port has become very quiet,” the worker said.
Rajaei, one of Iran’s main commercial ports, was hit by a major fire in May 2025 after what authorities described as an explosion involving a container carrying hazardous chemicals including sodium perchlorate. The blast killed dozens of people.
Several contractors linked to the port had already faced financial difficulties before the explosion and the subsequent war, according to workers familiar with the situation.
Another resident from Bandar-e Emam wrote that companies linked to the port had reduced staff and struggled to pay wages on time.
Iranian outlet Rouydad24 reported on May 7 that workers at Mobarakeh Steel had seen wages reduced to the official minimum despite earlier assurances that salaries would be paid without disruption following US and Israeli attacks.
The report said many skilled workers had turned to app-based taxi driving for income.
Restaurants squeezed by rising prices
Restaurants and food businesses have also come under pressure from higher prices and weakening consumer demand.
The owner of a fast-food restaurant in Lahijan, north of Iran, said the cost of ingredients changed so rapidly that menu prices had to increase almost daily.
An AI-generated photo shows a fast-food restaurant worker preparing sandwiches at his shop.
“The ingredients for a sandwich sold today for one million rials ($0.55) may cost 1.1 million rials ($0.60) to replace a few days later,” the restaurant owner wrote to Iran International. “Customers are unhappy and we are also being hurt by the situation.”
The decline of the rial had pushed the monthly minimum wage including benefits down to roughly $88 in real terms.
A restaurant owner in Kish said he had already laid off more than 10 employees and now saw closure as the only remaining option.
Customers and business owners also reported sharp increases in fast-food prices, with some sandwiches selling for around five million rials ($2.75) and pizzas reaching 1.2 million rials ($6.60).
Millions of people in Iran have spent more than 70 days dealing with widespread internet disruptions and restrictions that many residents say have disrupted their work, healthcare, daily lives and mental well-being.
Yet much of the international coverage surrounding Iran during this period has focused mainly on statements by officials of the Islamic Republic rather than the experiences of people living under the restrictions.
Millions of people in Iran have spent more than 70 days dealing with widespread internet disruptions and restrictions that many residents say have disrupted their work, healthcare, daily lives and mental well-being.
Yet much of the international coverage surrounding Iran during this period has focused mainly on statements by officials of the Islamic Republic rather than the experiences of people living under the restrictions.
Businesses collapse
Hossein, a 33-year-old music teacher who previously held many of his classes online, said his work has effectively stopped since the beginning of the 12-day war in June.
“My students are inside and outside Iran, but because of the internet disruptions they can no longer attend classes,” he said. “My income has almost dropped to zero.”
Hossein said the economic pressure on his family has become severe.
“The Islamic Republic does not care about us, and the world also seems not to care about the swamp we are struggling in,” he said.
His wife, Mohaddeseh, used Instagram to sell homemade sweets and tomato paste before the restrictions intensified.
“We spent four years trying to move our lives forward despite all the difficulties, but these 70 days destroyed everything we had,” she said. “We spent the savings we had put aside to buy a house, and now we do not know how we will pay rent and living costs.”
Internet; a class-based commodity
Shahla, a 56-year-old mother of a son with autism, said online gaming had been one of the few calming spaces available for her child before the internet restrictions deepened.
“My son can no longer play online,” she said. “He is full of stress and aggression now and constantly clashes with us.”
AI-generated image shows jars of homemade tomato paste prepared by a woman at home in Iran, reflecting how internet disruptions have affected small online businesses and household livelihoods.
Shahla criticized the rising cost of stable internet access and what she described as the “class-based” nature of internet availability in Iran.
“Do the people who turned the internet into a class privilege understand what families are going through?” she said.
She said she had spent years trying to create a calmer life for her son through counseling and therapy programs, but described the past 70 days as “a real hell.”
‘Not seen grandchildren for 70 days’
Mozhdeh, a 70-year-old retiree, said she was recently told to install the Iranian messaging app Baleh to book doctor appointments and receive medical test results.
“To register for a doctor’s appointment, I now have to install an application that people have repeatedly warned about in terms of security,” she said.
Mozhdeh’s children and grandchildren live outside Iran. Before the restrictions, she said she spoke with them daily through video calls. Now she relies mainly on short phone conversations.
“I am retired and cannot afford expensive internet access,” she said. “Why should people be forced into these conditions without any serious reaction?”
Public discussion about Iran, she said, often focuses almost entirely on the nuclear issue while the impact of restrictions on ordinary people receives little attention.
“If another country had cut internet access for 70 days and carried out arrests and executions every day, the global reaction would certainly be different,” she said.
Restrictions hit women-led businesses
Mahan, a fashion designer who has worked with Baluch women producing traditional needlework, said the restrictions have severely affected independent online businesses.
“For more than 70 days, we have not been able to register any new orders,” she said. “I am not only worried about myself. I am worried about the women whose only source of income depended on this work.”
AI-generated image depicts an Iranian music teacher amid internet disruptions.
Online sales, she said, had helped improve the economic situation of the women she worked with before the restrictions began.
Living in online silence
As internet restrictions in Iran entered a third month, many residents say they feel their voices are not being heard.
From education and healthcare to business activity and family communication, internet access has become an essential part of daily life for millions of people in Iran, residents say.
But amid political and security debates surrounding Iran, the experiences of people paying the daily cost of the restrictions continue to receive far less attention.
Rising fertilizer prices and shortages of basic work equipment are squeezing Iranian farmers, laborers and small business owners as inflation, unemployment and falling purchasing power deepen during the fragile ceasefire.
Information received by Iran International points to growing financial pressure across sectors including agriculture, fishing, retail and manufacturing after weeks of disruption linked to conflict, internet shutdowns and trade uncertainty.
The price of potassium fertilizer for a 50-kilogram sack has increased tenfold compared to last year, reaching about 70 million rials (around $40), one farmer told Iran International.
Rice farmers typically require around six sacks of fertilizer per hectare, sharply increasing cultivation costs at a time when many already struggle with falling incomes.
The farmer added that urea fertilizer prices have also risen severalfold in recent months.
Mehdi Hosseinizadeh, head of Iran’s Association of Pesticide and Fertilizer Importers, linked the increase in fertilizer prices on Thursday to damage suffered by some petrochemical facilities during the war and shipping disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz.
Hosseinizadeh also cited rising import costs, shortages in global fertilizer markets, difficulties securing supplies from China and India, and problems related to currency allocation and import registration.
Another farmer had earlier told Iran International that the price of drip irrigation tape rose from 4 million rials ($2.25) to 30 million ($17), while fertilizer costs climbed from 8 million rials ($4.5) to more than 100 million ($57).
Drip irrigation tape is a thin polymer tube used in irrigation systems to deliver water gradually to plant roots and reduce water consumption in row crops.
Workers report layoffs and business closures
Citizens from several provinces described worsening conditions for workers and tradespeople during the ceasefire period following the conflict.
A fisherman from Qeshm island said he had been unemployed for several months and that falling prices for export fish had increased pressure on local fishermen.
Another resident from Sarbandar, Khuzestan province, described rising unemployment among port workers and shrinking household incomes.
“Everything I earn goes toward rent, transportation and a small amount of food,” the resident said.
Several citizens had previously told Iran International they were selling household goods, work tools and personal belongings to cover food and basic living expenses after losing jobs and income.
One former worker from Tehran said he had been unemployed for nearly three months after beginning work in the electrical equipment market.
“My financial situation has deteriorated sharply and daily life has become difficult to endure,” he said.
A florist from Arak said the prices of supplies including paper, glue, ribbons, boxes and floral foam had quadrupled over the past two months.
Residents in Kashan also described carpet factories shutting down and laying off workers.
Shopkeepers in several parts of Tehran, also reported widespread business closures.
Many Iranians have been forced onto distrusted domestic apps after authorities cut global internet access, disrupting education and business while exposing users to slow speeds, censorship and surveillance fears.
Most affected are businesses reliant on Instagram and other global services, but even users pushed onto domestic platforms described repeated outages, poor functionality and heavy censorship on apps such as Rubika, Bale and Shad.
One citizen said Rubika often fails to send photos and videos for much of the day and alleged the platform checks users’ phone galleries. Another said uploading a single image on Rubika can take an hour.
Citizens also raised concerns that domestic applications could expose their data and devices to state monitoring.
