On a bright Tehran spring day, Sanaei Ghaznavi street, with its mix of shops selling groceries and household goods alongside fast food and flowers, seems like an everyday place. In a country where lives have long been buffeted by crises, it is a snapshot of a people just trying to get through the day while their future hangs on forces beyond their control.
For Mohammad, in t-shirt and jeans, even cranking open the striped awning of his family's shoe shop is an act of hope. It makes me happy to be in here, he tells us when we wander into his pocket of a store with its floor-to-ceiling shelves of trainers, big and small. So many people have lost their jobs and aren't working. There are few customers.
His father, Mustafa, laments the decline in clientele. We had so many before, he explains, proud that the business has been in their family for 40 years. One Iranian website, Asr-e Iran, recently cited an unofficial estimate that up to four million jobs may have been lost or impacted by the combined effect of the war and the government's near-total internet shutdown.
Boxes labelled with western logos like New Balance and Clarks protrude from the shop's packed shelves. Even fakes are expensive in Iran, Mohammad adds. When asked about his hopes, he smiles wryly, declaring, We hope the war starts again, while his father responds with weariness, We're just tired of living with an economy which keeps getting worse. In the nearby streets, the struggles are echoed by residents like Shahla, an elderly woman who is alarmed at the skyrocketing prices of basic commodities like bread.
In trying to cope with the ongoing economic crisis and political tension, residents navigate a dual existence; some show defiance against restrictive dress codes that gained prominence post-protests, while others are adamant about preserving cultural traditions amidst pressures for reform. Life continues with small acts of resistance as the palpable fear of conflict looms over hopes for peace.
