About a quarter of cafés in parts of Iran have shut down in the past three months, according to a senior industry official who says protests, legal pressure and economic strain have severely affected the sector.
Ali Za’fari, deputy head of the coffee shop owners’ union, said cafés have faced waves of closures, legal cases and official sealing orders since protests began earlier this year.
“From the beginning of the protests, there were lots of reports about cafés – from sealing to judicial cases and the closure of many of them,” he was cited as saying by the website Kafenevesht.
He said business activity has not recovered despite some customers returning. “Customers more or less came back to cafés, but the situation is not like before,” Za’fari said, adding that many venues are still closing in silence or operating only partially.
“In the past three months, 25 percent of cafés have shut down,” he said. Za’fari added that conditions worsened during the protests and that the union’s efforts to defend café owners “barely” produce results.
The difficulties facing cafés reflect broader challenges for small businesses, particularly those dependent on daily customer traffic.
The crackdown on protests and the prolonged internet blackout have aggravated an already strained economy, leaving businesses facing uncertainty as Iran remains in a prolonged economic and political limbo.
The disruption has coincided with continued tensions and diplomatic talks unfolding under the shadow of potential military escalation, further complicating the outlook for investment and employment.
Job marker on ‘red alert’
Separate data based on figures from the online recruitment platform IranTalent indicate that hiring demand across the economy has also fallen sharply since internet restrictions were imposed last month.
According to the analysis, overall hiring demand has dropped by 57 percent since nationwide internet disruptions began. The decline has been especially severe among small and medium-sized companies.
In the first three weeks of the international internet blackout, demand for new hires at these firms fell by 74 percent compared with the period before the restrictions, according to the same data.
IranTalent’s chief executive, Asiyeh Hatami, described the job market as being in a “red alert” state and warned of a wave of employment contracts that may not be renewed at the end of the year.
The figures indicate a broad slowdown in hiring activity, particularly among smaller employers.
Za’fari said the pressure on cafés has continued even after the most visible enforcement actions subsided, with many businesses shutting down without public announcements.
While some cafés remain open, he said, the sector continues to face legal, economic and operational challenges following the unrest and related restrictions.
