The Iranian middle class, long a force of political moderation, stability, economic growth, and the base of the country’s reform movement, is shrinking fast under the pressure of Western sanctions, researchers say. Left in its wake are rising societal resentments and an ever-increasing wealth gap.
A study published in the European Journal of Political Economy has used an innovative method to investigate the true extent and damage of Western sanctions on Iran since 2012 and how they have resulted in a dwindling middle class, leaving more Iranians to struggle on low incomes as a small elite prospers.
Resentment between the social classes is clear when speaking with Iranians, and the frustration felt by a…
