Not many people are comfortable discussing their personal finances with a stranger, let alone a reporter. However, many Iranians are speaking out as the struggle to make ends meet becomes intolerable.
Months of war have taken their toll on a battered economy that was already weakened by decades of sanctions and mismanagement. Dwindling oil and gas revenue, widespread job losses and annual inflation running to more than 80 per cent have pushed many Iranians to the brink. Nima, a 33-year-old Iranian cryptocurrency trader, summed up the country’s woes this week. “Every tomorrow has been worse than the day before,” he told The National. “If you can’t save, can’t buy what you want and don’t have a predictable future, then what’s the point of working anymore?”
The hardships being faced by ordinary Iranians have been exacerbated by the choices of the country’s leadership. Years of confrontation, belligerence and revolutionary rhetoric have deepened Iran’s international isolation. That isolation worsened this week, with the UAE – the Arab world’s second-largest economy – suspending trade and financial transactions with Tehran.
This development is a direct consequence of Tehran’s actions. For years, the Emirates maintained commercial links with Iran even during difficult periods characterised by political tensions. This pragmatism was based on recognition of the fact that trade and business maintain channels of contact, particularly in a region as interconnected as the Gulf and on centuries of people-to-people ties that precede current political circumstances. Pragmatism, however, has its limits.
Iran’s leaders cannot expect to threaten their neighbours while maintaining the benefits of economic relations with them. Every state has a responsibility to protect its people, its businesses and its economy. This is a responsibility that Iran’s authorities have shirked, leaving their own population out of pocket and deeply uncertain about what the future holds.
Isolation is rarely an economic strategy that produces prosperity. By curtailing options and raising costs, it makes recovery harder. For war-weary Iranians already struggling with inflation and declining purchasing power, the consequences stemming from the failure of Iran’s so-called resistance economy are not abstract. The UAE’s decision to review its trade ties with Iran also comes at an inopportune moment for Tehran, as it arrives with maximum US pressure and internal strain on the Iranian economy.
Iran's neighbours have repeatedly demonstrated their interest in good ties with Tehran. If its leadership can demonstrate respect for the sovereignty of other states, then there is room for economic and diplomatic ties to be rebuilt. Ultimately, this is the choice facing the Iranian authorities. Whether they decide to put their people first is a decision only they can make.
