DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Year-on-year inflation in Iran reached a level in May unseen since World War II, underlining the economic pain average Iranians face as the Islamic Republic worries about the war with Israel and the United States restarting.
A report Monday by Iran's Central Bank represents the first official acknowledgment of what Iranians shopping, paying for a taxi or visiting a medical clinic already know: The rial currency is battered by the war and uncertainty around it resuming.
Meanwhile, longtime problems of economic mismanagement and government corruption also appear to be dragging down Iran's oil-backed economy as it remains under a U.S. naval blockade.