From runaway inflation and unreturned export revenues to shrinking trade and pensioner poverty, official media expose an economy unable to resolve its own crises.
Iran’s economic crisis is no longer defined by a single shock but by the accumulation of unresolved failures that reinforce one another.
Recent reports from regime-affiliated newspapers reveal a system trapped in chronic inflation, fiscal mismanagement, weak external trade, and deep social fallout—particularly for vulnerable groups such as pensioners.
A recurring theme across these reports is the state’s inability to resolve crises once they emerge. Speaking at the 11th congress of the Islamic Association of Iranian Engineers, political figure Ebrahim Asgharzadeh questioned why, after 47 years, successive governments remain incapable of managing recurring economic and political breakdowns.
He argued that crises are not solved but layered on top of one another, pointing to parallel power centers and “a shadow government” that undermines formal decision-making.
According to him, this paralysis has repeatedly caused Iran to miss critical historical opportunities—economically as well as politically.
This structural dysfunction is clearly reflected in Iran’s macroeconomic indicators. Inflation remains the most visible and destructive symptom.
Citing International Monetary Fund data, Ham-Mihan reports that Iran continues to be an outlier in the region, with inflation driven by currency depreciation, loose monetary and fiscal policies, sanctions, and rising security and military expenditures.
While countries such as Egypt have seen inflation peak and then decline, Iran’s inflation rate is expected to surpass previous records, potentially averaging 50 percent or higher in the coming year.
The persistent reliance on liquidity expansion to cover budget deficits has eroded purchasing power and fueled deep public distrust toward the state.
At the same time, government revenues are leaking on a massive scale. According to Setareh Sobh, between 2018 and 2024, approximately $56 billion in export revenues failed to return to the country.
A member of parliament confirmed that 200 to 300 companies—most of them state-owned—did not sell their foreign currency earnings to the Central Bank as required by law.
Instead, they reportedly sold hard currency on the open market, directly contributing to exchange-rate volatility. This practice highlights the contradiction at the heart of official rhetoric: while the regime’s president calls for austerity and claims a lack of funds, state-linked entities are diverting vital resources outside official channels.
Iran’s external trade performance further underscores the limits of its “look East” strategy. According to Farhikhtegan, despite years of political emphasis on non-Western partnerships, exports to the Eurasian Economic Union account for only about 4 percent of Iran’s total exports.
Imports from Eurasian member states are similarly marginal, representing just 3 percent by value. These figures indicate that despite diplomatic messaging, Iran remains far from establishing meaningful strategic economic alternatives to Western markets.
The cumulative impact of inflation, sanctions, mismanagement, and revenue loss is most acutely felt at the household level.
Tose’e Irani reports that many retirees now survive on monthly pensions of around 15.4 million tomans after 30 years of work—an income that falls far short of basic living costs. As a result, large numbers of pensioners are forced to continue working well beyond retirement age.
This situation exposes the failure of Iran’s social security system to provide economic dignity to those who spent decades contributing to the workforce.
Together, these reports paint a coherent picture of an economy constrained not only by sanctions, but by entrenched governance failures.
Inflation is monetized, export revenues are siphoned off, trade diversification remains superficial, and social protection mechanisms are collapsing.
Rather than isolated problems, these are interlinked outcomes of a system that lacks transparency, accountability, and the capacity to implement sustainable reforms—leaving Iran’s economy locked in a cycle of crisis without resolution.
