Okay, so if the conflict in the Middle East escalates, how will it hit Iran's economy?

Good morning.

I'm Leanna Byrne and thank you for tuning into the Marketplace Morning Report and we're

coming to you live from the BBC World Service.

Yes, we're starting another week with tensions running high in the Middle East on Saturday.

Iran launched drone and missile attacks on Israel,

and we're not clear when or how Israel will respond but Benny Gantz

that's Israel's war cabinet minister has said it will exact a price when the

timing is right so how could this weekend's events make a bad situation worse for Iran's economy and for people living there?

Here's the BBC's Jouda Silva.

Even before Iran's attack on Israel this weekend, people in Iran were already struggling.

Ever since the former US President Donald Trump decided to withdraw from the nuclear deal

and impose what he called a maximum pressure campaign sanctions on Iran in 2019 the country has been really

facing a very difficult situation people there have had to cope with surging prices

and even some shortages of basic goods.

So the prospect of more international pressure or even conflict is definitely a huge concern

for Iranians.

After that missile and drone attack on Israel, Iran's currency, the Riale

briefly dropped to a record low against the dollar on the unofficial market,

so that's a sign that things could get even more difficult for Iranians.

We know that the US has for the moment said it would not join any potential Israeli

retaliatory operation, but President Biden has caught for a response from G7 countries.

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