Prices are surging in Iran and millions of jobs have been lost or put on pause as the war with the United States and Israel inflicts escalating damage on the country's economy, Al Jazeera has reported.

The rial has hit a new all-time low of 1.84 million against the US dollar in the open market in Tehran, according to the report, with currency deals scant amid market volatility. The currency had traded above 1.81 million on Wednesday and at about 1.54 million earlier in the week, against roughly 811,000 a year ago.

Food and medicine, cars, electrical devices and petrochemical products are among the items Iranians paid much more for this week than last. A 256GB iPhone 17 Pro Max, priced by Apple at $1,200 in the United States, was offered by some Tehran shops at close to 5 billion rials, about $2,750, while others refused to sell. A Peugeot 206, a modest car also produced in Iran, costs 30 billion rials, about $16,500, and imported cars are at times priced at more than five times the level in neighbouring markets such as the United Arab Emirates.

Wages that do not add up

The monthly minimum wage in Iran is currently less than 170 million rials, about $92, after a rise of about 60 percent for the current Persian calendar year. The government is also offering subsidies towards food and essentials worth just less than $10 a month per person.

“You look at the prices and salaries, and you see the numbers don't add up,” one Tehran resident told Al Jazeera, asking not to be named.

State television confirmed “daily” price increases in the car market in a report on Friday, but blamed “psychological” factors linked with inflation and “fake prices” spread by vendors.

Shutdown in its 64th day

Al Jazeera attributes the crisis to a toxic mix of local mismanagement, the bombardment of Iran's infrastructure, US sanctions and a naval blockade, as well as a near-total internet shutdown imposed by the authorities in Tehran that is now in its 64th day.

President Masoud Pezeshkian's government has not provided detailed information on how many people have lost their income streams, but the report says most major companies, from technology firms in Tehran to giant steel producers in Isfahan, have been forced to lay off employees.

In a statement on Friday, Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said the country must “disappoint and defeat enemies” in an economic and cultural struggle, and said businesses should refrain from firing workers as much as possible. Khamenei, who has not been seen or heard from personally since becoming supreme leader, said Iran was “traversing the path toward the peaks of progress and advancement”.