Postponing the future: War and inflation redraw marriage terms in Iran
Iran's cost of living crisis is affecting the dreams and everyday life choices of young Iranians.
Subhan Dashti had already picked a date for his wedding. He and his fiancee, Nadia Sabzi, together since 2016, had settled on Nowruz 1405, the Iranian New Year, which falls on March 20 to 21. They had already started buying items for their future home, but then last year, prices started to climb. Political and social unrest followed, and then the United States and Israel launched a war on Iran on February 28. Dashti’s family fled Tehran for the north of the country, and preparations for their wedding stalled.
When the fighting paused, the families returned to Tehran and the couple tried to resume their plans. But a television Dashti had budgeted at 70 million tomans ($302) now cost closer to 100 million tomans ($432). Despite earning about 100 million tomans a month ($432) – well above average for an Iranian worker – he concluded that marrying immediately no longer made sense.
The minimum wage for an Iranian worker is about 16 million tomans per month, which is less than $68 at current open market rates, while the average monthly wage for workers is around 25 million tomans, or roughly $105.
“A couple can make the wedding smaller. They can remove parts of the ceremony. But they cannot remove housing,” Mohaddes said.