Long queues for chicken as Ramadan comes to Iran

In the runup to the Islamic month of Ramadan, beginning this Saturday, Iranians flock to buy chicken and meat, among other staples, to stock up for Iftar, the evening meal when all members of the country's large families often gather to break their fast.

It is meant to be a month of sympathising with the poor by abstaining from eating and drinking during daylight, but it usually turns into a festivity of family gatherings and enormous eating either at Iftar or Sahari, the meal before dawn when fasting starts. Some even ironically put on weight by the end of the month.

This year, however, the festivity is marred by unprecedented inflation caused by a combination of governmental economic mismanagement and western sanctions. Prices of fruit and sugar, among other staples, have soared – in some cases showing threefold and fourfold increases. The price of meat has gone up to such an extent that many now eat it only on special occasions.

The latest controversy has been branded by Iranian media as the "chicken crisis". In an attempt to bring the ever-increasing price of chicken under control, the government has filled the market with subsidised chickens, prompting long queues in places where they are sold. Some require customers to show identity cards in order to stop them buying multiple times.

The police chief, Esmail Ahmadi-Moghaddam, has stepped into the crisis by criticising state-run television for showing people eating chicken, the Telegraph reported this week.

"They show chicken being eaten in movies while somebody might not be able to buy it," he said. "Films are now the windows of society and some people observing this class gap might say that we will take knives and take our rights from the rich. IRIB [the state-run TV] should not be the shop window for showing all which is not accessible."

The Iranian journalist Golnaz Esfandiari writes in her blog, Persian Letters, that the price of chicken (at the market rate) has risen some 60% since last year. "Nowadays Iranians pay as much as $5 for a kilogram of chicken. Pre-sanctions prices hovered around $2," she writes.

The semi-official Mehr news agency has also published a series of photos taken by people queuing up to buy chicken in various cities across the country, including in Yazd and in Shiraz.

Authorities have recently warned the media against reporting the impact of western sanctions on Iran's economy. Mohammad Hosseini, the minister of culture and Islamic guidance, said the media would not be allowed to publish reports that were "not compatible with the regime's and national interests".

"The situation regarding sanctions and other pressures, especially in the economy ... requires more co-operation by the media so the country is not hurt," he said in quotes carried by the state-run dolat.ir website, according to AFP.

"Soon we will hold a meeting with the nation's media and economic officials so they are more informed about the current conditions, especially the sanctions, and so that they function by taking into consideration the country's national interest," he said.

But chicken is an essential ingredient of Iranian food, especially for Ramadan. Both Iftar and Sahari are such an enjoyable part of Iranian lives that even those not practising the religion often join their parents and relatives.

Older members of the family throw Iftar parties and invite the younger ones but people also receive unexpected guests after Iftar, as part of the Ramadan visiting tradition, who are served fruit and nuts. If someone visits before Iftar it's rude not to invite them to stay for the evening meal even if they are not your friends or relatives.

Without chicken, Ramadan would not be Ramadan in Iran.

Source: THE GUARDIAN