Iran's embattled economy is absorbing another severe shock after more than five months of war with the United States and a U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports, pushing households deeper into a cost-of-living crisis even as the broader system remains short of collapse. Year-on-year inflation reached about 88% at the end of July, food inflation topped 128%, and the Statistical Center of Iran said youth unemployment rose to 23.4% in the spring while overall unemployment stood at 9.1% and labour participation (share of working-age people in the formal labour force) was just 40%. The squeeze is stark at street level: many teachers, cashiers and salespeople earn less than 200 million rials a month, against a basic minimum wage of about 166 million rials, while essentials such as lamb, rice, housing and utilities consume a growing share of income. President Masoud Pezeshkian said the war and blockade have stopped oil sales, damaged factories and reduced tax collection, leaving the government to fund operations as it weighs politically sensitive petrol price increases. With no near-term agreement with Washington on the books and talks continuing through Oman and other mediators over shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the article suggests more hardship may lie ahead for ordinary Iranians.