The price of the US dollar on Tehran's open market reached 272,000 tomans in the first minutes of trading on Thursday, 22 October 2026. As tension between the United States and the Islamic Republic rose, the euro traded at 304,600 tomans, the pound at 363,320 tomans and the UAE dirham at 74,550 tomans.
On the gold market, a gram of 18-carat gold was priced at 27,121,000 tomans in the first hour of trading and a full gold coin at 273,800,000 tomans. On world markets, a barrel of Brent crude rose 2.8% to $111.70 in Asian morning trading, a jump that followed the IRGC's claim of attacks on seven ships in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.
Food prices in Tehran: one meal, several million tomans
The collapse of the rial has gone straight to families' tables. Price estimates in central Tehran show that cooking one meal of ghormeh sabzi for a family of four now costs between 1,500,000 and 2,300,000 tomans; half a kilo of lamb for the dish alone costs 900,000 to 1,350,000 tomans.
Zereshk polo with chicken for four costs 650,000 to 750,000 tomans, and a kilo of chicken is 320,000 to 360,000 tomans. Even the simplest meals are not cheap: an omelette for four with two barbari breads costs about 350,000 tomans, because each egg is about 22,000 tomans and a kilo of tomatoes 57,000 tomans. Kashk-e bademjan and potato kuku for four each cost about 400,000 tomans.
In cafés it is harder still. The bill for four people at a café in Valiasr Square for a medium pizza, fries with mushroom sauce, three soft drinks and four teas came to about 3,200,000 tomans. A Tehran woman told Radio Farda that every day they wake up knowing they are poorer than the day before.
90% inflation and incomes that do not even cover rent
According to data from the Statistical Centre of Iran, year-on-year household inflation reached 89.8% in the month of Shahrivar 1405 (August–September 2026); a basket worth 10 million tomans a year earlier is now worth about 19 million tomans. Based on Factnameh's calculation from the same data, the cost of 11 basic goods has reached 5,602,000 tomans a month per person and more than 16,800,000 tomans for a family of three, and the Islamic Republic's one-million-toman food voucher covers less than 18% of this cost.
A Tehran pensioner with a monthly income of 18 million tomans says rent in his neighbourhood is about 20 million tomans and that he has cut out weekly meals of meat and protein. A newly married couple are working two shifts to pay off their loan instalments.
US President Donald Trump claimed on Wednesday that inflation in Iran had reached 301%, a figure the Islamic Republic's official statistics do not confirm. The pressure of the US naval blockade and the end of floating oil stocks and the closure of the border crossings with Iraq have further cut the regime's foreign-currency income.
A 272,000-toman dollar and inflation of nearly 90% have turned a simple home-cooked meal into a cost of millions for Tehran families.
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