Iran International
Soaring food prices in Iran are increasingly reflected in reports of theft, with groceries appearing in cases ranging from first-time shoplifting to warehouse raids and armed robbery.
A butcher in Karaj told Iran International that some customers now ask for their meat to be placed in black bags so it does not attract attention.
He described an elderly woman who had just bought meat when a man on a motorbike snatched the bag from her hand, causing her to fall and suffer injuries.
Police and judicial authorities do not publish detailed statistics on food theft, making it impossible to establish its scale or whether such crimes have increased. But basic groceries feature repeatedly in recent media reports of theft.
Some cases appear to involve people with no previous history of crime.
Meat, rice, cream
State news agency IRNA reported the case of a woman caught hiding two tubs of cream under her chador. When stopped by a security guard, she said her children were hungry. Her husband, described as a day labourer, reportedly knew nothing about the theft.
In a review of similar cases, IRNA said some of those accused, including housewives, had no criminal record and were facing theft charges for the first time. Cheese, yoghurt, cream and cooking oil were among the goods being stolen, it said.
The newspaper Jahan-e Sanat has separately reported thefts of cheese, butter and meat from shops.
The reports come as the cost of basic food has risen far faster than overall prices.
According to the Statistical Center of Iran, year-on-year inflation for food and drink reached 127.5 percent in the month to late August, meaning average prices in the category had more than doubled in a year.
Some staples rose considerably faster. Solid vegetable oil increased by more than 383 percent, eggs by nearly 294 percent, chicken by around 177 percent and red meat by 148 percent.
Iranian media reported last month that a kilogram of beef fillet cost around 42.7 million rials, about $19. At that price, one kilogram was equivalent to roughly seven and a half days of earnings at the minimum daily wage of 5.54 million rials, or about $2.50.
Armed robberies
But food is also appearing in crimes that have little apparent connection to immediate hunger, suggesting that sharply higher prices have made groceries more attractive to thieves.
In eastern Tehran, members of a gang who police said confessed to more than 10 house burglaries were stealing rice alongside gold, dollars and coins.
Police have also reported larger thefts, including around 1.5 tons of rice and other groceries from a storeroom in Tehran and approximately 15 tons of rice from a private warehouse in Rey.
Local media reported two armed robberies of shops in Iranshahr, in Sistan and Baluchistan province. In one, attackers took six sacks of rice, around 12 bottles of cooking oil, tinned food and pulses. In another, robbers fired shots before taking rice and cooking oil.
The cases cannot establish that food theft is increasing, nor do they point to a single motive. Shoplifting by someone struggling to feed a family is plainly different from a gang stealing rice alongside gold or raiding a warehouse.
What connects them is the changing value of food after years of inflation, particularly the steep price rises of recent months. Basic groceries have become increasingly difficult for many Iranians to afford — and valuable enough to steal.
Mohammad-Sadegh Motamedian did not identify which institutions were using the schools or disclose how many educational facilities had yet to be returned to the Education Ministry.
“These educational spaces must be handed over to the Education Ministry before the start of the school year, and where there are challenges, the relevant institution should inform the province so alternative space can be provided and the issue resolved,” Motamedian said.
The Revolutionary Guards, Basij paramilitary force and police used schools to station personnel during and after the war.
Dozens of schools used during war
An Iran International investigation published in March found that security and military forces moved personnel, weapons and equipment into at least 70 civilian sites across 17 provinces during the US-Israeli strikes from March 2 to 14.
Nearly half of the locations – 34 – were primary or secondary schools. Other sites included hospitals, stadiums, universities, mosques, parks and government offices.
Footage from several cities showed security vehicles, personnel or military equipment on school grounds.
‘Schools offered greater security’
Journalist Ali Hossein Ghazizadeh said schools offered forces large courtyards, numerous rooms and locations among residential buildings at a time when military bases were being targeted.
“Being in schools provides greater security for them,” Ghazizadeh told.
Schools were particularly useful for relocating personnel after bases and other facilities were struck, and their location among civilian buildings provided additional protection, Ghazizadeh said.
The use of educational facilities did not necessarily end with the fighting, Ghazizadeh said, adding that Iran International had received information indicating that some institutions sought to retain schools for longer-term use.
Civilian protection concerns
Schools are generally protected as civilian objects under international humanitarian law but can lose that protection if their use makes them military objectives. Attacking forces remain bound by rules including distinction, proportionality and precautions to limit civilian harm.
Iranian officials have denied using civilians as shields and accused Israel of targeting civilian infrastructure during the conflict.
The Israeli military confirmed to Iran International in March that it had identified Iranian forces deploying personnel and weapons at civilian sites, including schools, mosques and stadiums.
“Despite all these surgeries, I am still confined to my home,” the protester, whose identity and place of residence are being withheld for security reasons, told Iran International. “I am married, and during this time we have faced many problems paying for my treatment.”
His family eventually sold their car to help cover his medical bills, the protester said. Doctors have told him that regaining the ability to walk could take at least another year.
The account reflects the prolonged physical and financial consequences facing some people wounded during the protests, with Iran International receiving multiple accounts of injured demonstrators struggling to obtain treatment and pay medical expenses months later.
23 operations and more treatment ahead
The gunshot caused extensive damage to the protester’s leg, requiring doctors to perform muscle and skin grafts during a series of operations.
“About a month has passed since the skin graft, and the Ilizarov device that was fitted to my leg at the beginning of treatment is due to be put back on for about three months,” the protester said.
An Ilizarov apparatus is an external bone-fixation system using metal rings, rods and wires to gradually reposition sections of bone. It can be used to treat severe damage or the loss of part of a bone.
Doctors also attached a vacuum-assisted device to the wound for several months to promote new tissue growth, the protester said.
Infection, nerve damage and numbness later forced doctors to remove some of the repaired tissue and perform a muscle graft about six months after the shooting, according to the protester.
“I asked people who were able to help, but in the end, with great difficulty and even by selling our car, we tried to cover the costs,” he said.
Security fears complicate hospital treatment
Fear of arrest or identification at hospitals has complicated treatment for some protesters wounded during demonstrations, prompting some to seek medical care covertly or at home.
“After one of the surgeries, because there were many security officers in the emergency department, the doctor helped me leave the hospital,” the protester said.
Hospital staff recorded the cause of his injuries as a traffic accident, and his doctor later helped take him to Tehran to continue undergoing surgery, the protester said.
“I really do not know how to thank the medical staff,” he added. “They cooperated extensively and tried to make sure nothing else happened to me.”
Protester recounts January 8 shooting
Security forces initially fired pellets toward demonstrators before a live round struck his leg at close range on the evening of January 8, the protester said.
“My whole body is covered with pellet marks. The bullet hit my leg from close range,” he said. “When I was shot, they dragged me along the ground while I was in a very bad condition. I will never forget that night.”
Security personnel insulted him and tried to remove his clothing after he was wounded, according to his account.
“I held tightly onto my trousers, and they struck my hands with their boots,” he said. “My entire body was bruised, and I even thought my ribs were broken.”
The officers then put him on a motorcycle, the protester said.
“One of them said, ‘Don’t hit him here, take him farther up,’” he said. “I thought they meant they were going to finish me off. I passed out from fear.”
The protester said he regained consciousness alone in a dark alley, where an elderly couple found him and helped him reach a hospital.
“At first, I thought I was dead,” he said. “Then an elderly woman and man found me. They were like angels to me and helped me get to the hospital.”
The protester said he had joined the demonstrations knowing that doing so could put his life at risk.
“That night, I went out like many others, and I knew I might lose my life, but for me it was about Iran,” he said.
Six months after the shooting, the protester remains unable to walk, with further procedures ahead and no certainty over when he will regain mobility.
