Rural Iran Faces an Even Deeper CrisisWhile urban poverty continues to expand, conditions in rural areas have become even more severe. The Parliament Research Center projects that more than half of Iran’s rural population could fall below the poverty line by 2028. At the same time, rural residents face significantly higher food inflation than urban households. Official statistics indicate that point-to-point food inflation reached approximately 108 percent in rural areas, compared with around 85 to 90 percent in cities. For millions of Iranians, holding multiple jobs has become not a path to prosperity, but merely a struggle to survive.