In the Shadow of Unrestrained Repression and Massacre; Basic Goods Have Become Several Times More Expensive and the Government Has Introduced the “Kala-Barg” Scheme with a Fake Price

January 17, 2026; In the continuation of the bloody repression and massacre of the people by the Islamic Republic of Iran following the January protests against dire living conditions, and concurrent with nine days of deep and widespread internet and communications shutdowns, the atmosphere of society remains under strict military, security, and intimidating control; in such circumstances, reports indicate an unprecedented and multi-fold increase in the price of basic goods; a situation that has directly targeted the livelihoods of the people.

In response, the Islamic Republic of Iran, while acknowledging high inflation and officially announcing an increase in the price of basic goods by up to 30 percent, has introduced a scheme titled “Kala-Barg” (Electronic Ration Card) and a “One Million Toman Subsidy” as a solution; a scheme which, based on field evidence and real market prices, has no alignment with the living reality of society and is presented as a tool to distort the economic crisis and contain social discontent. This is because reports indicate that:

Basic goods, including rice and oil, have become excessively expensive in Iran, such that the price of rice has increased several times and oil has become practically unattainable. Bread has also become so expensive that households, after standing in queues for hours, receive only 10 loaves of bread.

In this regard, several field reports from the cities of Saqqez and Marivan have reached “Kurdpa,” and the narratives of field witnesses are presented as follows:

Latest Reports from Marivan:

In the domestic market, each person is only allowed to purchase one bag of rice. Rice has become excessively expensive in Iran, and few people have the ability to buy it, and items such as oil are absolutely non-existent in the market.

The extreme dearness of primary items, in this severe cold, has forced some families to go from the Bashmakh border to the city of “Penjwen” in the Kurdistan Region with passports to buy a bag of rice. These families are forced to carry this load on their shoulders for several hundred meters to reach the passport stamping points and taxis.

Latest Reports from Saqqez:

Basic goods and food items such as rice, oil, chicken, eggs, and bread have seen an increasing rise in price. People are forced to stand in bakery queues for hours to obtain bread, and bakeries sell bread in a rationed manner, with 10 loaves allocated to each household.

Additionally, stores do not accept the “Kala-Barg Card,” which the government announced would have 1 million Tomans deposited into it every month, stating that the government does not deposit any money into their accounts.

Another witness describes the unprecedented price increase of items in Saqqez as follows:

10kg Rice: 2 to 3 million Tomans

5kg Oil: Very scarce, and if available, 5 million Tomans

Chicken: Extremely expensive

Eggs: 20,000 Tomans per egg

The Government’s False Narrative Regarding “Kala-Barg” and the Belittling of People's Basic Needs in the Language of the Minister of Welfare:

 While access to government websites abroad faces serious disruptions, the Telegram channel of the Fars News Agency on January 15, 2026, published part of a conversation between “Ahmad Meydari,” the Minister of Welfare, and the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) regarding the “Kala-Barg” scheme; a conversation presented without regard for the real price of basic items and using belittling and reductive language regarding basic human needs.

In this narrative, the livelihood needs of the people are limited to 9 items in one month (Eggs: 1 kg, Chicken: 1.5 kg, Pasta: 700 g, Milk: 900 g, Yogurt: 900 g, Cheese: 400 g, Sugar: 500 g, Oil: 810 g). This is while the scheme has been introduced with the claim of “maintaining purchasing power and preventing price changes,” yet it has no connection to the current reality of prices in society, and the possibility of obtaining these 9 items at the price of 300,000 to 350,000 Tomans, as proposed by the Minister of Welfare, is practically impossible based on field evidence.

In this same regard, on Wednesday, January 14, 2026, Kurdpa received reports specifically from the city of Saqqez that one million Tomans per person had been deposited into household accounts. Nevertheless, a family of four in Saqqez that had received this “Kala-Barg” stated that to buy one 20kg bag of rice, which is the average monthly need of the family, they were forced to pay an additional 200,000 Tomans out of their own pocket on top of the 4 million deposited to be able to obtain it.

In the end, despite the official admission by the government spokesperson of high inflation and the increase in the price of basic goods by up to 30 percent, and the provision of a “One Million Toman Kala-Barg” under conditions where popular protests against the dire living situation have been answered with blood and bullets, these policies have no alignment with the real price of basic goods in society and practically distort the reality of the economic crisis.