Iranians Feel Strain of Turmoil and Sanctions

By Lucie Peytermann

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 Qassem 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.

Rana said she still feels "sad" about the disaster that claimed the lives of many young people who had left Iran to study abroad.

‘Angry with Trump'

One young Iranian who has chosen to stay in her country is Pegah Golami, a 25-year-old engineer who was shopping three days ahead of her wedding.

"The country's economic condition is now really difficult, especially for youths," she said, dressed in a chic coat and suede boots.

"I feel very bad... my friends have decided to leave. But I, as an Iranian, decided to stay and build my country."

The strains of a violin filled the air as a busker tried to make himself heard above the noise of the heavy traffic.

It is increasingly difficult to make a living, said Bahram Sobhani, a 47-year-old electrician who was unshaven, nervous and almost completely toothless.

"It's a little difficult to find work these days, but it is out there," he said.

"The sanctions have of course affected us, but we have to tolerate it because we can't do anything else. We live in Iran, not somewhere else."

The economic situation is also hurting Mohammadreza Khademi, vice-president of the Delham Tabesh company that sells smart technology devices from Italy for luxury homes.

His company took a hit after the renewed sanctions trippled costs, forcing it to lay off 20 of its 30 employees.

"The end of 2018 was awful and all of 2019 was not good at all," said Mohammadreza.

"I will continue to run my business. I will try to have that line of production in Iran locally, but it is super difficult to change," he said, adding that "I am angry with Mr Trump".

'We Feel Hopeless'

If the mood is glum in Tehran's middle and upper class districts, it's even worse in the poorer areas of the sprawling city of eight million people.

In the southern district of Molavi, a melange of architectural styles gives way to a maze of alleyways and shops where craftsmen practice time-honoured trades.

Only a few women are seen on the streets, most of them dressed in chadors and many carrying freshly baked flatbread.

Mehdi Golzadeh, a businessman who imports goods from Asia, looked exhausted as he walked out of a grocery store.

"Living in Iran has become very hard. With this economic situation, one can't import anything, and Iran doesn't have the materials" needed to make such products, he said.

"I am single... One can't start a family on this meagre income. We feel hopeless."

Akbar Gharibvand, a 50-year-old shop-owner and father of five, said his income is "just enough to eat and survive".

"These sanctions of course do affect things... It's the lower class that has come under pressure."

But, despite the hardships, he said Iran "is not a bad country" and that he considers himself lucky compared with people living in strife-torn neighboring nations.

"We aren't like Iraq, Afghanistan or Pakistan, or other countries where there are killings every day," he said.

"We are better off because we have security."

Photo: IRNA

Iran Parliament Approves New Health Minister

Iran's parliament Monday gave an overwhelming vote of confidence to President Hassan Rouhani's pick as health minister, after his predecessor resigned over budget cuts and criticism of the allocation of state funds.

Saeed Namaki was voted into office with 229 votes out of a total 259.

He had been appointed as caretaker by Rouhani after the former minister Hassan Ghazizadeh Hashemi resigned on December 3.

Hashemi's resignation letter points at "inconsistencies and not delivering on promises" by the government's planning and budget organization, semi-official news agency ISNA reported.

Namaki had previously served as deputy to Mohammad-Bagher Nobakht, the head of planning and budget organization.

The Rouhani administration and Hashemi had repeatedly been criticized for their allegedly costly plan to reform Iran's healthcare system.

But in his last speech as minister, Hashemi said the reform project had cost a fraction of what was spent on bailing out failed credit institutions.

 "The total money spent... is 164 trillion rials. (Yet they) spent 350 trillion rials on corrupt credit institutions," he said, in a video of the speech posted on Iran's video-sharing service Aparat.

Several unauthorized credit institutions, which mushroomed during ex-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's era, collapsed in Rouhani's six years in office, with the central bank rushing to reimburse lost deposits.

The healthcare reform plan aimed to reduce medical costs for patients and ease Iranians' access to medical services.

Speaking in parliament, the new minister vowed to carry on with the reforms and said that "no previous commitments will be ignored".

Iran is struggling with a sharp economic downturn as its currency has sharply depreciated against the dollar. The recession has been fueled partly by the US withdrawal from a landmark 2015 nuclear deal last May and the reimposition of unilateral sanctions.

Photo Credit: IRNA

Iran's First Female Manufacturer, a Victim of Trump

She fought through a male-dominated world to become perhaps Iran's first female manufacturing boss, and was on the cusp of major success with the help of a European investor.

Until Donald Trump brought her crashing back to earth.

When Leila Daneshvar was a little girl, she used to sit on the floor of her father's workshop, asking for small jobs.

"He was a mechanic, and I always had the most fun when I was in the garage with him," she told AFP.

"But in those days, there were no mechanical careers in Iran, so I went to college in India. Even there, I was the only girl in my year of 139 students. I had a hard time."

But she persevered. Now 37, she runs her own company in Iran, making mobility equipment for hospitals and the elderly.

"I went to Europe and saw how disabled people live happy, independent lives. I wished my own people had this equipment, and I thought: 'This doesn't look complicated. I'm a mechanical engineer—I can do it.'"

The breakthrough for the company, called KTMA and selling under the brand "Lord", came in early 2016, just after Iran's nuclear deal with world powers came into force, lifting international sanctions.

Within a couple of months, a Swedish investor, Anna Russberg, had agreed to buy 25 percent of the company, bringing much-needed business acumen and capital.

"Leila had a reputation for quality production, which was practically unknown here. But I needed to turn the business upside-down," said Anna.

"It worked. People could tell we were a good mix. We respect each other's knowledge. She's the engineer, I'm the businesswoman."

Being women in Iran's patriarchal business world could be tricky, but also an advantage.

"Hijab is difficult when you're a manufacturer. You have to climb things, go below things," said Leila, laughing. "But being a woman has its advantages. Everyone remembers you."

Anna added: "People don't know how to treat us exactly, which is useful in negotiations."

'Breaks my Heart' 

Things were looking up: low production costs meant they could charge five times less than foreign firms and they were doubling sales each year, finally landing a major contract with Qatari hospitals.

But then Trump happened.

Even before he pulled the US out of the nuclear deal, the American president's constant threats to reimpose sanctions had a chilling effect on trade.

It soon became hard to import crucial raw materials, particularly stainless steel.

"We already had problems in getting raw materials... and now it's impossible. Either I have to close the factory, or have to continue with much higher prices," said Leila.

"We had to let four or five workers go last month because we couldn't pay their salaries, and it breaks my heart."

She watched Trump deliver his speech on May 8, reimposing sanctions on Iran, with a mix of horror and fury, particularly when he claimed to be on the side of the Iranian people against their government.

"That made me so angry. These sanctions are not on the government, it's on the people. I can give less to disabled people, to the elderly. Our saying was that we are providing European quality with affordable prices. Can I do that anymore? I don't know."

Anna remains defiantly positive.

"Iran has 10 million older or injured people who can use our product. With or without Trump, we still have a business," she said.

But whether or not the business can survive the Trump administration's vow to "crush" the Iranian economy with sanctions, it is already clear that investors like Anna are no longer coming to Iran.

The dream of the nuclear deal—that hundreds of small businesses would blossom with European support, creating an important constituency supporting good relations with the West—was dead long before Trump finally yanked the US out of the agreement.

"It's a real pity. Being an investor in Iran is a rollercoaster—you take one step forward, three steps back. But it's an amazing country with great opportunities," Anna said.

Leila stays positive by remembering her father, who passed away last month. "When I become weak and tired... I remember his strength," she said.

"There is no going back. Iran faces so many problems, but I learned from him that the strength is inside me, and my partner. When we believe we can do it, we will do it."

Photo Credit: Atta Kenare