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In Pictures

Gallery|Business and Economy

In Pictures: Iran’s booming consumer culture

Iranians are increasingly buying into Western-style consumerism, despite sanctions and often high prices.

People shopping at the Isfahan City Centre Mall, one of the biggest in the country.
By Thomas Cristofoletti
Published On 14 Jul 201414 Jul 2014
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During his visit to Cuba in 2012, former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said: “The capitalist system is in decay,” and that it has “come to a dead end – politically, economically, and culturally”.

But changes taking place in Iran over the past few years seem to contradict this.

Despite slow mobile internet connections, high prices for consumer electronics and tight government censorship of the media, Iranians are frantically buying smartphones, tablets, and flat-screen TVs.

For many young people, shopping has become a near-obsessive ritual. Although traditional bazaars remain the favourite places to shop for most Iranians, they now face stiff competition from huge shopping malls all across the country.

Analyst Richard Javad Heydarian recently described Iran as “one of the most promising economies of the 21st century – and perhaps the next China”, portraying the country as an awakening lion. In the past few months, relations between Iran and the West have warmed, and negotiations to lift sanctions could pave the way for even more changes.

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A woman shops at Tehran(***)s Grand Bazaar.
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A customer at Hyperstar, Iran(***)s first international-style hypermarket, inside the Persian Gulf Complex, a huge mall located a few kilometres outside Shiraz. Hyperstar plans to open 15 branches by 2015.
A portrait of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini is displayed on a wall of the Isfahan City Centre Mall, above elevator doors advertising laundry detergent.
Customers at the (***)Kentucky House(***), a fast-food restaurant in the Isfahan City Centre Mall.
Children play at Iran Land, an amusement park inside the Persian Gulf Complex.
A woman shops at an appliance centre in the Isfahan City Centre Mall.
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Young Iranians walk in front of a recently opened unofficial Apple reseller.
Two girls check Facebook on a smartphone in Isfahan. Despite slow mobile internet connections, Iran has seen a considerable increase in smartphone purchases.
Women(***)s shoes are sold in a shop located inside a bazaar in Tabriz. Despite the increasing number of malls, many Iranians still prefer to shop in traditional bazaars.
A view of Tabriz(***)s Grand Baazar, among the oldest in the Middle East.
Due to international sanctions, importing foreign cars is expensive, and many Iranians buy locally produced cars.
Iranian women are increasingly reluctant to comply with government-imposed traditional dress codes. Many wear western-style hijabs made of fashionable fabrics.
Young pilgrims eat ice cream in a cafe in Qom, the second-holiest city in Iran.


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