It's hard to see crippling sanctions at a modern shopping mall in north Tehran — the shops are stocked, the cafes are full. The latest western electronics – even iPhones and iPads, are available for those who can afford it.
But talk to middle class Iranians and you hear dire stories. The say they suffered as prices on almost everything rose dramatically for two years. International sanctions fueled skyrocketing inflation, estimated at 45 percent. Practically, that means that necessities – bread, rice, soap – got more expensive every month.
In a small neighborhood shop, a baker fills a machine with dough that pops out loaves of hot bread. Sanctions changed the way Iranians shop, says a customer, who doesn't give her name. Whatever the price, she says, you still have to buy the basics.
"Some things are expensive, but they are necessary and needed," she says. "The unnecessary things we ignore."
Iran's economy has been badly damaged over the past two years. International sanctions froze oil assets and isolated Iranian banks, which shut off most official international trade. Iran's currency lost 80 percent of its value, says economist Saeed Laylaz.
"We are in a catastrophe, disaster situation at the moment," Laylaz says.
Since January, when a six-month nuclear deal took effect with the easing of some sanctions, there's a slight economic revival, he says.
"Inflation, from 45 percent to 27 percent almost," Laylaz says.
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