In a report by Epoch Times on April 29, 2026, a consulting engineer working in the Iranian capital Tehran expressed his deep worries about the future, stating, “I belong to the top 1% of the society, but now I am unemployed.” He had recently quit his job before the start of the Iranian war, only to find his newly acquired job prospects uncertain. He further added that everyone’s savings would be depleted within the next few weeks.
The Associated Press reported on Tuesday (April 28) that in Kashan, a renowned carpet manufacturing center in Iran, the manufacturing industry is almost at a standstill. The son of a carpet manufacturer with a family business in Iran, who is currently in the United States, revealed that approximately 80% of carpet manufacturers have halted production due to the devastating impact of the war on exports. Their factory has also been shut down, employing 20 to 30 workers who used to produce hundreds of carpets each month.
Despite facing adversity, the father continues to visit the factory every day. He expressed, “I have never seen my father so discouraged before.” During the peak period, Kashan had hundreds of carpet factories.
Since the outbreak of the war, Iranian carpet exports have plummeted, with domestic sales nearly non-existent. On the other hand, the price of synthetic fibers, the key raw material for carpets, has surged by 30% to 50%, as synthetic fibers are downstream petrochemical products significantly impacted by the war.
Additionally, Mehdi Bostanchi, a member of the Iranian Industrialists’ Committee who owns a ventilation and air conditioning factory and a household fan factory, acknowledged that all sectors nationwide have been affected. He mentioned that many businesses indirectly rely on the petrochemical industry, as even those not directly needing steel or petrochemical products are not immune to the impacts of these sectors.
At present, his two factories are still operational, employing over 1,130 workers. However, he remarked that the ventilation and air conditioning factory heavily depends on the construction industry, which is currently facing significant disruptions. Most new construction projects have come to a standstill. Moreover, the prices of crucial materials like iron plates needed by the air conditioning factory have more than doubled.
A chemical engineer revealed that he works at Iran’s largest private construction contractor company. The company has laid off half of its headquarters staff and shut down a project with Mobarakeh Steel, leading to 1,000 people losing their jobs.
On the eve of the April 8 ceasefire, Israel launched airstrikes on Iran’s largest steel and petrochemical plants. Iran’s two largest steel plants, Mobarakeh Steel and Khuzestan Steel, the pillars supporting Iran’s economy, have ceased production. Subsequently, some smaller steel mills also stopped production. According to the semi-official Iranian Jamaran news agency, over 50 petrochemical joint ventures have shut down.
This has severely impacted Iran’s two major non-oil export industries, causing price hikes affecting a range of products from plastics, pipelines to textiles. Moreover, material shortages have worsened, with even dairy factories struggling to find packaging for milk and butter.
After over five weeks of war, the economic repercussions have spread across various facets of the Iranian economy, resulting in increasing unemployment and skyrocketing prices for Iranian citizens. In March, chicken prices surged by 75%, while beef and lamb prices rose by 68%. The prices of many dairy products increased by half.
With the US blocking Iranian ports, cutting off billions of dollars in imports and oil exports, Iran’s economic situation in April is expected to deteriorate further.
Iranian authorities have attempted to mobilize all Iranians to the battlefield, placing bets on the capacity of the Iranian economy to endure more pain than the Trump administration. They also claim to continue controlling the critical energy passageway of the Hormuz Strait until the US military lifts the blockade.
The economic turmoil had previously sparked widespread protests in Iran in December 2025, which were suppressed by the Iranian authorities before the war. Now, the economic crisis may once again drive people to the streets.
According to reports from Iranian state media, Gholamhossein Mohammadi, the Deputy Minister of Labor in Iran, stated that the war has directly led to at least one million people in Iran becoming unemployed.
Iranian Brandeis University researcher and economist Hadi Kahalzadeh holds a more pessimistic outlook. He cautioned that the chain reactions of the war put approximately 10 to 12 million people at risk – about half of Iran’s workforce.
Kahalzadeh stated that the US and Israeli airstrikes had damaged 20,000 Iranian factories, roughly 20% of the total number of production units in Iran. Severely affected facilities include Tofigh Daru Pharmaceutical Holding Company, Iran’s largest pharmaceutical producer that manufactures various products, including cancer medications. Optical and chemical research and development enterprises, aluminum plants, and cement factories have also been targeted.