Record food prices mar Iranian New Year’s celebrations

Shahrzadnews:It’s Norouz, the Iranian New Year, but many families cannot afford to celebrate, with food prices at a record level. Many say they cannot afford anything, particularly as their wages are so low. Meanwhile the head of Tehran’s Chamber of Commerce and Industries Yadollah Sadeghi claimed that the public had welcomed the “high quality of fruit, sweets and other food available at prices lower than they were for last year’s Norouz.” He went on: “We have managed to distribute enough, right across the province of Tehran, and the low prices should mean everyone is able to buy them.”

According to a report that appeared on the Kalame website, many people in the capital are just window-shopping, to save face with their neighbours. They have only bought enough for their basic needs. One told the news website’s reporter: “We are only pretending to shop, because everything is too expensive. We have to borrow money or use credit cards to pay for items that are essential at Norouz. Last year pistachio nuts were 12,000 tomans a kilo, now they’re 25,000 tomans.”

When a customer accused a poulterer of putting up his prices every day, he retorted: “You should complain to those responsible for the situation. I am only a shopkeeper. It's the government you should be angry with.”

“I cannot ask a thief to stop stealing,” was the reply.

Some weeks before Norouz the Iranian government promised that this year it would arrange “spring street markets,” where food and sweets would be sold at wholesale prices. After queuing for several hours however customers found that only frozen fish and meat were available, products they could just as easily have bought from their local butchers.

“Why are they doing this to us? Why do we have to stand in long queues for hours, only to get low-quality meat and vegetables? Who is running this chaotic economy? If this is a rich country, why do people have to endure so much hardship, only to get low quality rubbish food?” protested one citizen to a Kalame reporter.

Source: Shahrzad News