Fatemeh Moghajerani, government spokesperson, at the Seventh Mehr press conference, confirmed increased economic pressure and inflation on households.

In response to a journalist’s question—“An additional 300,000 tomans on a food voucher can’t even buy a single puff snack”—she said: “Of course the food voucher is not given for buying a puff snack.”

Moghajerani added: “The food voucher is for helping people preserve their livelihoods. Under no circumstances do we deny the price increases or the economic pressure on people.”

The government spokesperson also promised that the amount of the food voucher would increase, but said that wartime conditions and the costs of repairing damaged infrastructure, including the electricity grid, have led to a reallocation of the government’s expenditures.