Postponing the future: War and inflation redraw marriage terms in Iran

Subhan Dashti had already picked a day for his wedding. He and his fiancee, Nadia Sabzi, unneurotic since 2016, had settled connected Nowruz 1405, the Iranian New Year, which falls connected March 20 to 21. They had already started buying items for their aboriginal home, but past past year, prices started to climb. Political and societal unrest followed, and past the United States and Israel launched a warfare connected Iran connected February 28. Dashti’s household fled Tehran for the northbound of the country, and preparations for their wedding stalled.

When the warring paused, the families returned to Tehran and the mates tried to resume their plans. But a television Dashti had budgeted astatine 70 cardinal tomans ($302) present outgo person to 100 cardinal tomans ($432). Despite earning astir 100 cardinal tomans a period ($432) – good supra mean for an Iranian idiosyncratic – helium concluded that marrying instantly nary longer made sense.

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“We decided to postpone the wedding for astatine slightest a fewer much months,” Dashti, 35, said.

The minimum wage for an Iranian idiosyncratic is astir 16 cardinal tomans per month, which is little than $68 astatine existent unfastened marketplace rates, portion the mean monthly wage for workers is astir 25 cardinal tomans, oregon astir $105.

For Sabzi, 34, the maths are lone portion of the fear. She has made bid with a smaller ceremonial – a simpler dress, a humble hall. What she cannot marque bid with is safety.

A US strike successful aboriginal September deed a location successful Kuhestak, successful confederate Iran’s Sirik County, wherever a wedding solemnisation was taking place; Iranian authorities said respective radical were killed and dozens wounded, including women and children.

“For the past 2 weeks, I person been asking Subhan astatine night: what if the warfare starts again erstwhile we are getting married?” Sabzi said.

Pedestrians locomotion past a billboard depicting a legendary Iranian leader and flying fig hitting US craft carriers alongside a connection successful English and Farsi: ‘From the Persian Gulf a caller powerfulness rises’ [Vahid Salemi/AP]

Their stalled wedding is 1 tiny motion of a larger situation successful Iran for young people. Across Iran, war, sanctions, ostentation and shortages are shaping young couples’ matrimony decisions amid a shifting absorption connected wedding costs, what a household requires and however acold into the aboriginal anyone dares to plan.

Simin Nouri, a bridal constitution creator successful Tehranpars, said that during the summer’s highest wedding season, her salon erstwhile saw 2 oregon 3 brides a day. Now it sees lone 2 oregon 3 a week.

Prices are present adjacent higher, she said. In Tehran, a regular bridal bundle costs astir 70 cardinal tomans ($302), portion a VIP bundle tin scope 150 cardinal tomans ($648). In lower-income parts of the city, prices are usually astir 50 cardinal tomans ($216). Clients person not abandoned services wholly – they downgrade them. They skip skincare and hairsbreadth extensions, and publication lone constitution and hairstyling for the wedding nighttime itself.

“They inactive privation to bash these things,” she said, “but they spell for the little costly option.” She noted that 2 of her ain friends postponed their weddings outright. One declined Nouri’s connection of escaped constitution paid later. “Because the constitution was ne'er the existent obstacle – the wedding itself was,” she said.

Newlyweds – and a measure that keeps growing

Pejman and Sanaz, who met studying physics engineering and asked that their surnames and assemblage beryllium withheld, joined successful July conscionable aft past year’s 12-day war. Their rent tells the story: a deposit and monthly rent that totalled astir 34 cardinal tomans ($144) a twelvemonth agone present outgo astir 58 cardinal tomans ($246) – a 71 percent emergence for the aforesaid Tehran apartment.

That includes a leap from a 300 million-toman ($1,296) deposit and 25 cardinal tomans ($106) monthly rent, positive 1.5 to 2 cardinal tomans ($6–$8) successful gathering charges, to a request from a caller landlord of a 400 million-toman ($1,728) deposit and 46 cardinal tomans a period ($198).

Pejman, 30, earns 56 cardinal tomans a period ($242); the caller rent unsocial would devour astir 82 percent of it.

“Last year, conscionable to screen the costs of starting our beingness together, we had to merchantability 13 grams of my wife’s gold,” helium said. That golden is present acold much costly to replace: 18-carat golden has risen from astir 6.48 cardinal tomans a gram ($28) successful June 2025 to much than 23 cardinal tomans ($99) by mid-September 2026.

A mid-range Tehran wedding for astir 100 guests – hall, bridal services, clothing, photography, euphony and humble golden – present runs adjacent to 1.1 cardinal tomans ($4,752), versus astir 480 cardinal tomans ($2,074) earlier the 2025 war, though costs alteration by neighbourhood and provider.

Economist Amir Hossein Mohaddes separates the situation into 2 problems: the outgo of starting a household and the outgo of sustaining one.

“A mates tin marque the wedding smaller. They tin region parts of the ceremony. But they cannot region housing,” Mohaddes said.

He argues the much superior harm is unpredictability itself – couples cannot program a fewer months up owed to rapidly rising prices. He warns that adjacent a ceasefire oregon a afloat halt of the warfare would not reverse this trend: a refrigerator that has doubled successful terms does not autumn backmost connected its own. Landlords who summation rents seldom little them again.

A lawsuit buys Iranian golden coins astatine a currency speech bureau successful Tehran’s concern territory [File: Raheb Homavandi/Reuters]

For Abbas Derafshi, 30, a slope worker who had been readying to wed his fiancee, Parastoo, adjacent a state-backed matrimony indebtedness has not been capable to span that widening gap.

Under President Ebrahim Raisi’s government, Derafshi said, slope employees had been instructed to enactment intimately with young couples applying for matrimony loans, processing applications with minimal guarantees – often requiring conscionable 1 guarantor.

The 2023 rules acceptable the modular indebtedness astatine 180 cardinal tomans per idiosyncratic ($778), oregon 360 cardinal tomans for a mates ($1,555). Derafshi calculated that the combined indebtedness was worthy much than $7,000, with a 10-year repayment play and a 4 percent work fee.

The modular indebtedness has since risen to 300 cardinal tomans per idiosyncratic ($1,296), oregon 600 cardinal tomans for a mates ($2,592).

A mates receiving the afloat magnitude would present look monthly repayments of astir 5.5 cardinal tomans ($24), Derafshi said, astir 2.2 cardinal tomans ($9.50) much each period than a mates borrowing the modular magnitude successful 2023. Despite the loan’s nominal worth rising, Derafshi calculated its existent purchasing powerfulness has fallen astir 64 percent successful dollar presumption since 2023.

“When I applied for the indebtedness nether the [President Masoud] Pezeshkian government, adjacent though I enactment astatine a slope myself, I faced truthful galore obstacles – from subdivision duty and recognition checks to guarantor requirements and further documents – that I yet gave up,” helium said.

His relationship reflects his ain acquisition alternatively than the conditions acceptable with each Iranian slope for each young person, helium notes. But for him the effect was concrete: with lodging and wedding costs continuing to rise, helium and Parastoo nary longer bask the fiscal conditions to statesman joined beingness arsenic planned.

“The plans we had for starting our beingness unneurotic person fundamentally been enactment connected clasp until further notice,” Derafshi said.

What the numbers mean

Political subject prof Jalil Dara, who besides studies societal and future-oriented trends, explained that prolonged ostentation and uncertainty are “contributing to anxiety, little optimism and delayed household enactment among young Iranians”. That is alongside a countervailing emergence successful nationalist solidarity that coexists uneasily with the economical strain. But Iran’s economical difficulties did not statesman with the existent war.

“Years of sanctions, chronic inflation, currency depreciation, anemic concern and home argumentation failures had already made matrimony and lodging harder for young people,” helium said.

“The warfare worked arsenic an accelerating shock, not the sole cause. Even an extremity to hostilities would not automatically reverse the damage.”

For household purchasing powerfulness to recover, Mohaddes said, Iran would request much than peace. What is indispensable for ending the outgo of surviving situation is currency stability, existent wage growth, productive employment, stronger concern and little economical uncertainty.

“That is wherefore the consequences of warfare tin outlast the dependable of explosions,” helium concluded.

Facing costs they tin nary longer absorb, Pejman and Sanaz are present considering leaving Iran to survey abroad.

“We some emotion Iran. We would similar to instrumentality aft finishing our doctorates and enactment for our country,” Sanaz said. “Hope the concern would beryllium amended by then”.

This nonfiction was published successful collaboration with Egab, a level that empowers journalists from crossed the Global South to people stories successful planetary media outlets.