[Today’s Prayer] Iranian Citizens Sigh as ‘Sanctions Restoration’ Looms, Fearing Worsening Economic Hardship

Iranian citizens, already suffering from severe economic difficulties, are sighing at news that UN sanctions will soon be reinstated.

Concerns are mounting not only about worsening livelihoods due to disrupted supplies of essentials and volatile rial exchange rates, but also about increased risks of military clashes with the U.S. and Israel, or domestic crackdowns on public dissent in the political and security spheres.

According to AP News on the 27th (local time), Shima Taghavi, a mother of two whom reporters met at a grocery store in Tehran, the Iranian capital, lamented, “The prices of cheese, milk, and butter rise every single day,” adding, “My children are too young, so I can’t take fruit or meat out of the shopping basket.”

Sina, father of a 12-year-old son, said that despite having lived through the Iran–Iraq war of the 1980s and decades of sanctions that followed, the present moment feels the hardest.

“We have always lived with economic hardship in our memories, and it worsens year by year,” he said. “The dreams of our generation are gradually disappearing.”

Amid continuous external shocks, the Iranian rial has broken past 1 million rials to the U.S. dollar, repeatedly setting record lows.

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Particularly, the price of pinto beans has tripled, butter has doubled, and the cost of key groceries has risen by more than 50%. Rice has climbed over 80%, the price of a whole chicken 26%, while beer and lamb have risen 9% each.

Local media reported that more patients are seeking psychological counseling due to worsening food shortages and fears of another war breaking out.

Shima Fedrousi, a clinical psychologist at Shahid Beheshti University, explained in an interview with Hamshahri Daily, “Society has been worn down by the ‘12-day war,’ with unbearable psychological pressure and uncontrollable inflation leaving people exhausted and unmotivated.”

Fedrousi warned, “If the economic situation continues like this, the social and moral consequences will be grave. People may resort to acts for survival that they would never consider under normal circumstances.”

Some speculate that Iranian authorities may resort to harsher measures, such as executions, to suppress growing domestic unrest. Recently, the human rights organization Iran Human Rights (IHR) reported that the number of executions this year has already surpassed 1,000.

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Source: Yonhap News

“May the groans of the prisoners come before you; with your strong arm preserve those condemned to die.” (Psalm 79:11)

Heavenly Father, we hear news of the Iranian people suffering from soaring prices and severe economic hardship as the UN restores sanctions in response to Iran’s nuclear development. We also see the anxiety of Iranians shaken by the fear of sudden war, and the oppressive stance of the Iranian government toward its own people.

We lift up the Iranian people into Your hands. Their only hope is in Jesus Christ. Lord, You know their hunger and thirst. Please take responsibility for their spirit, soul, and body. Let them know Jesus Christ, the river of living water that never runs dry, so that they may no longer hunger or thirst.

We see the Iranian government’s persistence in continuing nuclear development. But Lord, You are the Prince of Peace. May all illegal actions that disturb peace be broken in the name of Jesus, and may the anxiety of civilians fearing war also be lifted away.

Lord, although the government’s oppression grows worse, we hear the news of the Iranian church continually increasing. Hallelujah. We praise You, Lord, who works faithfully. Even in hardship, let the truth set them free, so that our brothers and sisters in faith in Iran may hold firmly to their faith to the end. Grant that a history of revival, in which churches give birth to more churches, may continue.

As the church in Iran and the global church pray together, we proclaim and believe that the glorious gospel of Jesus will be established throughout Iran, the nations where Iranians are scattered, and the entire world. Use the Iranian church as a channel for the Lord’s coming.

We believe that even amid suffering and tribulation, the light of Jesus will shine brightly in Iran, filling the hearts of its people not with life’s anxieties and fears of war, but with the hope of heaven. In the end, the Iranian people shall be victorious and become a nation carrying the gospel to the ends of the earth!