Iranian families struggle to buy the basics as US intensifies economic war

Trump says there is no prospect of negotiations with Iran Iranian families are struggling to buy the basics amid intensifying economic pressure from the United States on Iran, according to the Associated Press news agency. ? Follow the g1 international news channel on WhatsApp Although the Tehran government denies that the economic war declared by Trump on Wednesday (19) will affect the country, reports show that many families are experiencing difficulties. According to the AP, unemployment is skyrocketing and those who do have jobs are working longer hours for a salary that's half what it was a year ago, making food, medicine and everything else — with the exception of gasoline, which is heavily subsidized — even more unaffordable. "We practically gave up on many things. We cut the fruits, we cut the proteins, we gave up leisure and we even worked on the weekends", says Ahmad Karimi, 52 years old, taxi driver and father of two children, who has been working 15 hours a day to be able to support his family. , On Wednesday (19), US President Donald Trump announced what he called the "most crushing economic operation" ever carried out against a country, targeting Iran with economic warfare and isolation. Trump also stated that he expects all of the United States' allies to work to "isolate" and "defeat" the "Iranian threat", and also threatened to punish any country that helps keep the Iranian economy running, without detailing what the punishment would be. A day later, on Thursday (20), Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said that the US "Economic D-Day" against Iran was a distraction from American economic problems and warned that additional pressure would fail, leading to "further defeat" for the United States. Who can be affected? US President Donald Trump during a speech on August 14, 2026 Ken Cedeno/Reuters There are doubts about the effectiveness of an economic war against Iran. The country is already the target of a series of sanctions, which make trade with other nations difficult. Furthermore, in January, Trump had already announced a 25% tariff for any country that did business with Iran. Even under sanctions, however, Iran maintains a large network of trading partners, mainly because it is an important oil producer. In 2022 alone, according to the World Bank, Iran sent products to 147 countries. Currently, China is Iran's main trading partner. In 2022, the country exported US$22 billion in products to the Chinese. Imports reached US$ 15 billion. In second place comes India. In the first ten months of 2025, trade between the two countries totaled US$1.34 billion. India's main exports to Iran include rice, fruits, vegetables, medicines and other pharmaceutical products. Iran's list of major trading partners also includes Germany, South Korea and Japan, countries that are allies of the United States. Iran is not among Brazil's 20 main trading partners, according to data from the Ministry of Development, Industry, Commerce and Services (MDIC). However, it is one of the main Brazilian destinations in the Middle East. In 2025, Brazilian companies imported US$84.5 million from the country, mainly urea, pistachios and dried grapes. Exports totaled US$2.9 billion, with emphasis on corn, soybeans and sugar. *With information from Reuters. VIDEOS: most watched on g1