[custom_adv] Battered by U.S. sanctions and its depreciating rial currency, 80 million people struggle to buy meat, medicine and other staples of daily life. [custom_adv] Now they wonder aloud about America’s intentions as it rushes an aircraft carrier and other forces to the region over a still-unexplained threat it perceives. [custom_adv] The Associated Press spoke to a variety of people on Capital’s streets recently, ranging from young and old, women wearing the all-encompassing black chador to those loosely covering their hair. [custom_adv] Most say they believe a war will not come to the region, though they remain willing to defend their country. They think should try to talk to the U.S. to help its anemic economy, even as they see President Donald Trump as an erratic and untrustworthy adversary. [custom_adv] “Trump is not predictable at all and one doesn’t know how to react to him and what is the right thing to do against him,” said Afra Hamedzadeh, a 20-year-old civil servant and university student. “Since he controls the global economy we are somehow left with few options.” [custom_adv] “If America could do anything, it would have done many things by now,” said the chador-wearing Zoherh Sadeghi, a 51-year-old housewife coming out of prayers. “It can’t do anything. It can’t do a damn thing.” [custom_adv] A young nation, many across were alive for its bloody 1980s war with Iraq, a conflict that began when dictator Saddam Hussein invaded and dragged on for eight years. [custom_adv] That war, in which Saddam used chemical weapons and launched human wave attacks, killed 1 million people. Since Trump withdrew the U.S. from Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers last year, state television increasingly has focused attention on that war’s wounded. [custom_adv] Still, many pointed to the economy, not the possible outbreak of war, as major concern. Rial currency traded at 32,000 to $1 at the time of the 2015 nuclear deal. Now it is at 148,000, and many have seen their life’s savings wiped out. [custom_adv] Nationwide, the unemployment rate is 12 percent. For youth it’s even worse, with a quarter of all young people unemployed, according to statistic center. [custom_adv] Yet for youth, many of whom celebrated the signing of the 2015 nuclear deal in the streets, the situation now feels more akin to a funeral. Many openly discuss their options to obtain a visa — any visa — to get abroad. [custom_adv] “Young people have a lot of stress and the future is unknown,” said Hamedzadeh, the 20-year-old civil servant. “The future is so unknown that you can’t plan. The only thing they can do is to somehow leave and build a life abroad.”
