Iranians feel strain of turmoil, sanctions

On a crisp winter’s day the snow glistens on the mountains above Tehran, but the mood is as heavy as the pall of pollution that often shrouds Iran’s capital.

In a country weighed down by sanctions, shaken by protests and stressed by military tensions with the United States, many Tehranis struggle to hide their pessimism.

“Life is really hard right now. The situation here is unpredictable,” said Rana, a 20-year-old biology student walking in the upmarket district of Tajrish.

It is a part of the city where young women subtly thwart the Islamic republic’s conservative dress codes, opting for short coats, stylish make-up and scarves revealing ever more hair.

But, despite such relative liberties, Rana said she feels trapped.

“The quality of life isn’t good at all – we have pollution, angry people, high prices,” she said, pointing also to a “huge class gap” and Iran’s deepening “isolation.”

Iran’s economy has been battered since US President Donald Trump in 2018 abandoned an international nuclear deal and reimposed sanctions and a “maximum pressure” campaign.

When Iran hiked petrol prices in November, nationwide protests erupted and turned violent before security forces put them down amid a near-total internet blackout.

Tensions with Washington escalated in early January when a US drone strike killed powerful Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad.

Iran retaliated by targeting US forces but then accidentally shot down a Ukrainian airliner, killing all 176 people on board, in a tragedy that sparked anger at home and abroad.