A New Year in Iran, but crises remain the same
Mar 20, 2021
The Persian New Year, Nowruz, begins on the first day of spring and celebrates all things new. A year into the coronavirus pandemic that has devastated Iran, killing over 61,500 people — the highest death toll in the Middle East — the nation is far from out of the woods.
Iran’s economy shrank 5% last year, according to the International Monetary Fund. Over 1 million people lost their jobs in 2020
The prices of basic goods, including Nowruz staples like spiced nuts and clothes, have doubled or tripled.
Casual laborers bear the brunt of the fallout. The poverty rate has surged to 55%. The government’s $40 stipends for poor families have failed to plug the gap.
