Rising costs force Tehran residents to abandon city and cut basic expenses

In Tehran, soaring living costs are prompting residents to leave the capital and drastically reduce spending on food and health. Restaurant operator Behnam Riazi keeps margins low to retain patrons, while former engineer Bijan supplements income with tutoring after moving to a slum with his wife. An anonymous teacher, forced into online lessons, cannot afford medication for his mother and worries about returning to classroom teaching.

Retiree Hediyeh relies on her husband’s pension but lacks funds for her mother’s Alzheimer’s treatment and her grandson’s school supplies. Shop owner Ramin Yousefnia notes customers now buy half the quantities they once did, and even relatively well-off Iranians report cutting back on car maintenance. The squeeze has also pushed some to the black market, where a man paid $200 in cash to expedite a surgery.