Three-minute read
The price of bread, a fundamental staple in Iranian households, has surged dramatically across Iran in recent months, exacerbating the financial strain on an already beleaguered population.
This crisis is a direct outcome of the clerical regime’s policies, including severe subsidy cuts and a chaotic decentralization of price controls, which are pushing bakers to the brink and igniting widespread public anger.
The Soaring Cost of a Basic Necessity
Recent market data reveals an alarming trajectory for bread prices. Since February-March 2025, the cost of “fantasy” or industrial breads has experienced a staggering 84% increase. For instance, a standard package of baguettes, priced at 19,000 tomans in February-March 2025, jumped to 29,000 tomans by April-May 2025, and further escalated to 35,000 tomans by early June 2025.
#Iran News: Shargh Daily Warns of Impending “Bread Uprising” Amidst Economic Collapsehttps://t.co/fxXKTuIfMC
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) April 1, 2025
This represents a near-doubling of cost in just over three months. The crisis extends to traditional breads as well, with reports from some provinces indicating that prices have doubled since the beginning of June 2025.
Regime Policies: The Engine of the Crisis
The primary drivers of this price explosion are deliberate policy decisions by the regime. These include the significant reduction of flour subsidies previously provided to bakeries and the abrupt elimination of government assistance for bakers’ insurance premiums.
Mehdi Omidvar, spokesman for the regime’s Chamber of Guilds, highlighted the dire situation, citing an example where a bakery’s insurance costs for three employees skyrocketed from approximately 4 million tomans in January-February 2025 to 14 million tomans just two months later. “How is this difference supposed to be paid?” Omidvar questioned, underscoring the immense financial pressure.
May 28—Qom, central Iran
Protest by bakers, highlighting their grievances over rising insurance costs, flour prices, and stagnant bread rates.#IranProtests pic.twitter.com/O9Nbnv9Anj— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) May 28, 2025
Adding to the chaos is President Massoud Pezeshkian’s policy of delegating bread pricing authority to provincial governors. While framed as a measure to prevent “disorder in pricing,” this decentralization has effectively allowed the central government to sidestep direct responsibility for the ensuing price hikes. Meanwhile, the regime’s 2025 national budget anticipates generating 20 trillion tomans from the sale of both subsidized and unsubsidized flour, indicating a clear financial motive behind policies that burden consumers and producers alike.
Bakers Crushed, Livelihoods Destroyed
Bakery owners find themselves caught in an untenable position. They face sharply increased costs for essential inputs like flour and yeast, coupled with labor wage hikes exceeding 30%, yet are often pressured to maintain previous selling prices.
Omidvar explicitly stated, “In this situation, the baker is told to sell bread at the old price.” This unsustainable model, compounded by persistent technical issues with the regime’s Smart Bread Management System (Nanino) and delayed subsidy payments, is pushing many bakeries towards bankruptcy, threatening a vital component of Iran’s food supply chain.
#IranProtests: Bakers and Drivers Ignite Nationwide Demonstrations Amid Economic Collapse https://t.co/y0nL9oSO8E
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) May 24, 2025
A Symptom of Deeper Economic Decay
The bread crisis is not an isolated incident but a stark symptom of the regime’s pervasive economic mismanagement and systemic corruption. The prices of other essential food items, such as lamb (surging from 980,000 to over 1.1 million tomans per kilo in a month) and chicken (up 12% to 109,000 tomans per kilo), are also skyrocketing.
Pinto beans saw a 153% inflation rate in February 2025 alone. This occurs against a backdrop of failed, multi-billion dollar “economic driver” projects under former president Ebrahim Raisi, which achieved only 22% physical completion, and ongoing plans to cut up to 18 million people from subsidy lists, further imperiling vulnerable families.
Growing Resistance Met with Repression
The unbearable economic pressure has inevitably led to public outcry. Bakers, whose livelihoods are directly threatened, have taken to the streets in numerous cities. Protests erupted on May 17, 2025, in Isfahan, Ahvaz, Birjand, Kermanshah, Qom, Shahinshahr, and Mashhad. The movement expanded, with specialty bread bakers in Yazd joining on May 21. By May 24, reports indicated that security forces had violently dispersed a protest in Mashhad.
"We will not tolerate the regime stealing the people's bread" pic.twitter.com/ve2C7UHcbB
— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) May 24, 2025
This unrest mirrors warnings from within the regime itself, with several Members of Parliament in late April 2025 expressing fears of a looming popular uprising due to escalating prices and stagnant incomes.
The escalating bread crisis in Iran is a direct consequence of the clerical regime’s destructive economic policies, characterized by mismanagement, a prioritization of its own financial gains over public welfare, and an attempt to deflect blame through chaotic decentralization. By turning a basic food staple into an increasingly unaffordable item, the regime is not only deepening the economic hardship faced by millions but is also fueling the very popular discontent it so fears. Bread, once a symbol of sustenance and stability, has now become a potent symbol of the regime’s failure and a flashpoint for growing national frustration, further underscoring the urgent need for fundamental change in Iran.