Page 10 - ARUBA TODAY

A10 WORLD NEWS
Wednesday 24 July 2019

US sanctions squeeze Iran middle class, upend housing sector

By KARIN LAUB trict 12, renovating the
MOHAMMAD NASIRI old apartment after being
Associated Press squeezed out of the good
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Stay- neighborhood by a rent
at-home mom Maryam hike.
Alidadi used to lead a “We have to come here
comfortable middle-class because we have no other
life. The 35-year-old and choice,” said the patriarch,
her husband, a mechanic, Moslem, 65. Four unmarried
could afford a spacious children will live with him
rental apartment in a cen- and his wife. Across-the-
tral neighborhood of Teh- board price increases put
ran, along with a car, oc- marriage out of reach.
casional restaurant meals One of Tehran’s newest
and holidays abroad. areas, District 22, is under
Now they are barely hang- construction on the north-
ing on, even after drastical- western edge of the city. It
ly cutting spending. consists of apartment high-
Like most Iranians, the fam- rises and shopping malls ar-
ily was hit hard by the col- ranged around an artificial
lapse of the national cur- lake called Chitgar.
rency, accelerating infla- Maryam Alidadi and
tion and eroding wages — her husband bought an
fallout from unprecedent- 82-square-meter (880
ed U.S. sanctions. square feet) apartment
Perhaps most devastating here in December, down-
for Iran’s large middle class sizing by a third from their
has been the sharp spike rented home in a more af-
in housing prices, more fluent area.
than double in a year. That “Our standard of living has
has uprooted tenants and dropped considerably,”
made home ownership un- This July 6, 2019 photo shows residential towers in District 22, that consists of apartment high-rises she said, adding that she
attainable for most. and shopping malls arranged around an artificial lake called Chitgar, under construction on the now regrets having quit her
The Alidadis sold their car northwestern edge of Tehran, Iran. government job four years
and borrowed from friends Associated Press ago when her son Rami
and family to buy a smaller with their families to save economy, domestic poli- are sharply raising rents be- was born.
apartment in a less desir- money. Visa requests are tics and foreign policy un- cause of the currency col- The U.S. sanctions have
able area on the outskirts up at foreign embassies, der the guise of security, lapse, said Ali Dadpay, a fi- proven particularly dev-
of Tehran — in hindsight a with young Iranians eager said Ellie Geranmayeh, a nance professor at the Uni- astating for Iran’s large
smart move, since they’ve to leave. senior fellow at the Euro- versity of Dallas. He said an middle class, said Dadpay,
been priced out of their old Some wonder how far pean Council on Foreign estimated 490,000 homes the finance professor. “This
neighborhood by now. Washington is willing to Relations. stand empty in and around is the economic class that
“Right now, this is the most push its “maximum pres- Despite the economic up- the capital, including more depends on the global
difficult period ever,” said sure” campaign. heaval, there have only than 40,000 units added economy, depends on
Alidadi’s 58-year-old moth- The Trump administra- been sporadic protests. this year. their skillsets, and most of
er, Shahla Allahverdi, re- tion says the sanctions are Iran analyst Adnan Ta- At the same time, con- them are earning fixed in-
flecting on the Islamic Re- aimed at getting Iran to batabai said he believes struction lags far behind comes,” he said.
public’s 40-year history as renegotiate the nuclear Iranians are “reluctant to the need of 1.2 million new The economic freefall
she shared a park bench deal, which offered sanc- take their grievances to the homes a year nationwide, could shape Iran’s domes-
with her daughter. tions relief in exchange for street” for now, amid fear said Hesam Oghabaei, tic politics, with parliament
Iranians worry about the curbs on Iran’s nuclear pro- of further chaos and push- deputy head of the Tehran elections in February pos-
future as tensions between gram. back by the authorities. association of real estate ing the first test. Middle
Iran and the West continue Washington denies its ul- The economy contracted agents. class voters have tradition-
to rise. timate aim is to end the by 4.9% from March 2018 to He said about 25% of Teh- ally favored reformist can-
The escalation — triggered rule of Shiite Muslim cler- March 2019. It is expected ran’s residents live in rented didates but might sit out
by the Trump administra- ics — though John Bolton, to shrink by an additional apartments, and the vast voting because of a lack of
tion’s withdrawal last year an architect of the pres- 5.5% in the year ending majority cannot afford the alternatives, inadvertently
from Iran’s 2015 nuclear sure campaign, called for March 2020, according to price increases. boosting hard-liners.
deal with world powers — regime change before he Iranian figures. The official The Peyman family — el- Pro-reform politicians who
seems unstoppable, and became Trump’s national inflation rate has risen to derly parents and eight favor a greater opening to
European mediators try- security adviser. 35%, up from 23.8% in the adult children — own a 110 the West are closely linked
ing to defuse the situation Some say Washington’s March 2018 to March 2019 square meter (1,180 square to the nuclear deal.
keep coming up short. actions appear to have period. feet) apartment in Tehran’s With the deal faltering,
The showdown between strengthened the paramili- The housing and construc- District 12, a poor area the hard-liners, including
Washington and Tehran tary Revolutionary Guard tion sector, which makes plagued by drug addiction the Revolutionary Guard,
has upended the lives of and other hard-liners at up about one-quarter of and other social problems. are becoming more en-
Iranians as they try to sur- the expense of President the economy and is the More than a decade ago, trenched, said Geran-
vive on less. A bride bor- Hassan Rouhani, once the top destination for savings the Peymans rented the mayeh, the analyst.
rowed a wedding dress be- nuclear deal’s most promi- and investments, has been apartment, and used the The Guard, she said, “is
cause she couldn’t afford nent champion. thrown out of balance. extra income to move to a going to be a force to be
to buy or even rent one. The Guard has been able Property owners are reluc- nicer area. reckoned with for many
More newlyweds move in to deepen its role in the tant to sell and landlords Now they are back in Dis- years to come.”q