Tehran, Iran – More people in Iran are returning to work this week as a pause in fighting provides temporary respite from bombardment by the United States and Israel, but the economic outlook remains grim for most.In the network of narrow corridors, workshops and warehouses in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar, a commercial hub in the capital, more shops were open and for longer hours on Saturday, the first day of the working week, compared with before the ceasefire announced overnight into Wednesday.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listSales, however, continued to be slow compared with the period before the war, merchants said.“It’s almost complete stagnation,” said a vendor, who works in the section of the bazaar selling metal goods, tools and light industrial items.“We received new price listings for some of the products from wholesalers today, everything is about 20-30 percent more expensive” compared with listings in late January, he told Al Jazeera, adding that it was unclear when, whether, how much or at what prices new goods could be imported in the future due to the war.The January prices, he said, also signified a similar jump compared with earlier months as they were affected by rampant inflation made worse after weeks of nationwide protests, during which thousands were killed, and the state imposed 20 days of near-total internet blackout across the country.The Islamic Republic has imposed another near-total internet shutdown since the start of the war on February 28, which has caused countless more in …
