An unaffordable car market highlights Iran’s cost-of-living crisis

Tehran, Iran – Hossein, a 32-year-old marketing specialist based in Tehran, has been thinking of replacing his 13-year-old Iranian-made car with a newer model.Even though he earns about four-and-a-half times the minimum wage after a recent pay rise – his salary is now close to 900 million rials (about $390 at the current exchange rate) – imported vehicles are not even remotely affordable for him.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Turkiye revokes operating licence of Iran’s Bank Mellat in Istanbullist 2 of 4Iran stages show of force during mobilisation campaign in Tehranlist 3 of 4The cost of Iran’s regional leveragelist 4 of 4In Yemen, war at home and in the region drives up pricesend of listEven finding a locally made car might be out of his budget, with an economic crisis gripping the country since the United States and Israel launched a surprise war on Iran on February 28 and later enacted a crippling siege and sanctions on the country.“I’m losing hope of ever being able to buy a new domestic production car too, unless the country opens up and becomes a bit more normal again,” Hossein, who asked to keep his full name confidential for security reasons, told Al Jazeera....