As the Iran war triggered by U.S. and Israeli airstrikes drags on, millions of Iranians are losing their jobs and being pushed into poverty. Iran's economy, which has suffered a prolonged downturn under U.S.-led Western sanctions, is reaching a breaking point as war adds to the strain.
Gholamhossein Mohammadi, Iran's Vice Minister of Labor, said last week that 2 million people lost their jobs because of the war. The Iran economy outlet EcoIran reported that the thousands of airstrikes damaged more than 23,000 factories and corporations, which appears to have further deepened unemployment.
On the 28th (local time), CNN said, "Layoffs are happening across all industries," adding, "Almost every occupation, including oil refining and textile workers, truck drivers, flight attendants and journalists, is being affected."
Earlier, the BBC said, "In Iran, a wave of large-scale restructuring is sweeping through as a direct and indirect result of tensions with the United States and Israel," adding, "In particular, the internet shutdown implemented after the war broke out has also hit the relatively growing tech and digital industries."
In fact, Iranian corporations have recently begun a string of large-scale layoffs. On the 28th, a large-scale airstrike on Israel's petrochemical complex sent thousands of workers on unpaid leave, and Maral Sanat, a trailer manufacturer headquartered near the Azerbaijan border, cut 1,500 jobs due to a steel shortage. Borujerd, a major Iranian textile company, also laid off 700 employees.
Asal, a freelance designer in her 30s living in Tehran, the Iranian capital, told CNN that with the internet cut off for two months, "there were no new projects and I didn't receive replies to messages," adding that it is now hard to cover even basic living expenses.
Iran's economy was already fragile before the war broke out. Because of Western sanctions, corruption and inflation, per capita income fell from about $8,000 (about 11.82 million won) in 2012 to $5,000 (about 7.39 million won) in 2024. In this situation, with various civilian facilities also hit by the war, the economic outlook is worsening further.
Recently, concerns have grown that the number of people living in poverty in Iran could surge. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) warned that up to 4.1 million additional people could fall into poverty because of the war.
Hadi Khalajadeh of the Quincy Institute, a U.S. think tank, said that disruptions to maritime transport and the resulting decline in imports have hurt Iran's already vulnerable economy, noting that it "threatened 50% of Iran's jobs and pushed an additional 5% of the population into poverty."
With the number of unemployed surging, the burden on the national economy is also growing. Over the past two months, 147,000 people applied for unemployment insurance, about three times the number during the same period last year. CNN reported, "Rising unemployment is putting greater pressure on a social security system that is already strained as national revenues are depleted."