Iran’s economy: Counting the cost of war
Business Daily
BBC
4.4 • 816 Ratings
🗓️ 13 April 2026
⏱️ 18 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Iran’s economy is under strain from war, long-standing sanctions and a nationwide internet shutdown.
We hear from people inside the country, and ask how much damage has been done, and how recovery could begin.
If you'd like to get in touch with the team, our email address is businessdaily@bbc.co.uk
Presenter: Rahul Tandon Producer: David Cann
Business Daily is the home of in-depth audio journalism devoted to the world of money and work. From small startup stories to big corporate takeovers, global economic shifts to trends in technology, we look at the key figures, ideas and events shaping business.
Each episode is a 17-minute, daily deep dive into a single topic, featuring expert analysis and the people at the heart of the story.
Recent episodes explore the weight-loss drug revolution, the growth in AI, the cost of living, the economic impact of the war in the Middle East, and why bond markets are so powerful.
We also feature in-depth interviews with company founders and some of the world's most prominent CEOs. These include Google's Sundar Pichai, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, and the CEO of Canva, Melanie Perkins.
(Picture: An Iranian man reads a copy of the Iranian daily newspaper Jame Jam with the headline 'Sea Bluff' outside a kiosk in Tehran, Iran, on the 13th of April 2026, as the conflict between Iran and the US over the Strait of Hormuz continues. Credit: Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA/Shutterstock)
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:08.8 | Hello and welcome to Business Daily from the BBC World Service. I'm Rahul Tandad. Today, we're looking at how the war in the Middle East is impacting Iran's already faltering economy. |
| 0:20.9 | Many people have lost their job because of the war. |
| 0:23.7 | Many company offices have been damaged. |
| 0:26.0 | And asking, how much will it cost to rebuild it? |
| 0:29.5 | There are some estimates, and I would say these are conservative estimates, |
| 0:33.4 | that would suggest that the first month of the war imposed a damage of around $100 billion. |
| 0:40.7 | And where will that money come from? |
| 0:43.1 | The sanctions relief is far more valuable for Iran economically |
| 0:47.0 | than any revenues they might gain from traffic industry. |
| 0:50.6 | That's all coming up here on Business Daily from the BBC. |
| 1:03.5 | Thank you. industry. That's all coming up here on Business Daily from the BBC. Those are the sounds that many Iranians have been waking up to. So here on Business Daily, |
| 1:09.1 | we wanted to look at the state of Iran's economy. Let's be |
| 1:14.2 | honest, it is very difficult to get an accurate picture of what is taking place inside Iran. The |
| 1:20.6 | internet has been turned off now for more than 40 days. Some people, though, have been using |
| 1:26.1 | Starlink. That's a satellite-based internet system developed |
| 1:29.6 | by Elon Musk. It's harder for the authorities to shut down. And some Iranians have been using that |
| 1:35.6 | to communicate with the rest of the world. And they've been sending messages about the economic |
| 1:41.1 | challenges that they're facing on a daily basis to our Persian service. |
| 1:46.0 | The Iranian sending us those messages are often putting their lives in danger by doing that. |
| 1:52.0 | So we've voiced up what they've told us. |
| 1:55.1 | Many people have lost their job because of the war or have been placed on unpaid leave. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.