Tehran’s municipal markets used to be notorious for their long queues, as shoppers lined up to buy meat, vegetables and fruit in bulk at discounted prices. But today the customers are far fewer. Those buying goods carefully select just enough to meet their daily needs, with soaring prices meaning low-income families struggle to make ends meet. 

“God damn this regime and its corrupt rulers,” one middle-aged Iranian woman cursed as she paid for a lettuce and a cabbage. “They have sent their children to the US and Canada while making us poorer every day.”

Such complaints have become common in Iran, highlighting the acute domestic pressures building on the leadership as the US imposes  new sanctions on the Islamic republic. Measures targeting cars, gold and other metals trading, and the government’s ability to buy US dollars came into force on Tuesday.