At Turkey’s Kapikoy crossing, merchants have turned boxes of olive, sunflower and corn oil into a lifeline for Iranians fleeing soaring prices. Buyers like Maryam load four‑liter bottles, paying just over $10 per drum and reselling them across the border for a modest margin of about $2 per unit. The trade, conducted discreetly to avoid Turkish crackdowns, has surged as war‑related shortages tighten domestic markets.

Inflation in Iran now hovers near 70%, the IMF’s highest projection since the 1980s, eroding a minimum wage of roughly $108 a month. A January subsidy cut on imported essentials sent cooking‑oil prices soaring, prompting the government to issue a one‑time cash grant of 10 million rials (about $7). Yet households report that even basic items like chicken have tripled in cost.

For traders and families alike, cross‑border oil sales provide only a thin buffer against a collapsing economy. With factories damaged by airstrikes and persistent internet blackouts, many Iranians face unemployment and food insecurity, prompting some to consider theft as a survival tactic. The modest profits from oil underscore how ordinary commerce has become a desperate coping mechanism.