For young Iranians, cafes are a refuge — a safe place to mingle and unwind in a country where social freedoms are restricted.
“I like going to cafes because you see all kinds of people with different personalities, yet they’re all socialising in the same place,” Ainaz, a 19-year-old woman living in the capital, Tehran, told RFE/RL’s Radio Farda.
“I have my favourite spot, but I also enjoy trying out cafes with different vibes. I feel freer in cafes than I do on the streets,” added Ainaz, who only gave her first name for security reasons.
But a deepening economic crisis and renewed pressure from the authorities are squeezing Iran’s once-booming cafe culture, a fixture of urban social life, particularly among young people.
Economic Strain
Coffee and food prices have soared amid runaway inflation. The International Monetary Fund forecasts that Iran’s overall inflation will reach nearly 69 per cent this year, the highest since the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
Years of international sanctions and government mismanagement have crippled the economy. Iran’s war with the United States and Israel since late February has pushed the country of 90 million people to the verge of economic collapse.
Iran’s cafe scene has felt the impact, with owners grappling with rising costs and customers scaling back their spending.
A woman in Tehran said the price of 250 grams of coffee is as much as 15,000,000 rials ($8) — double what it cost last year.
“Just imagine how expensive coffee in a cafe has become,” the woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons, told Radio Farda.
A Tehran cafe in May 2025
Another resident of Tehran, a 41-year-old man, said he was going to cafes “almost every day” during the nearly three-month-long Internet shutdown, when the authorities cut off access following the launch of US and Israeli attacks on February 28.
“Cafes were the only place where we could keep our spirits high, hang out, and avoid feeling isolated,” the man told Radio Farda on condition of anonymity, adding that he has not stopped going to cafes.
“Instead, I made changes to the things I order, such as ordering cheaper drinks like tea,” he said.
Political Scrutiny
The authorities have also targeted cafes as part of a widening crackdown on dissent following mass anti-government protests in January and the war with the United States and Israel.
For years, cafes have been regularly shut down for playing Western music, hosting mixed-gender dancing, or permitting women who do not wear the mandatory hijab, or Islamic head scarf — which are all banned in the country.
The last few months have seen another wave of cafe closures.
In early June, police forcibly closed a cafe in downtown Tehran after it played live music. Police did not disclose the name of the cafe, but they accused it of promoting “deviant sects” and “satanic activities.”
Iranian women chat in a cafe in Tehran in September 2025.
In March, the authorities ordered the closure of a popular cafe chain, Lamiz, after they deemed the designs on its takeaway cups politically offensive.
For the authorities, the issue goes beyond individual cafes. These spaces have come to represent lifestyles that do not always align with the values promoted by Iran’s clerical establishment.
The pressure on cafes is part of a broader pattern of restrictions on individual freedoms. Rights groups have long criticised Iran for limiting freedom of expression, imposing strict rules on women’s clothing, and restricting public and cultural activities that are viewed as inconsistent with official Islamic values.
Prominent hard-line politician Saeed Jalili publicly attacked cafe culture as a Western project aimed at undermining traditional family values.
“They define three spaces: the dormitory, the workplace, and a ‘third space’, like a cafe, to escape loneliness,” Jalili said in December 2025.
“In this concept, the family loses meaning. This stands in opposition to Islam’s philosophy of marriage,” he said, sparking outrage among some Iranian social media users.
A 33-year-old cafe owner in Tehran, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the “risk of getting closed down still exists over issues such as the hijab.”
Iranians sit at a cafe in Tehran in May 2025.
Despite the challenges, many cafes remain crowded.
“People say, ‘We don’t have money to save or travel anymore, so we enjoy an evening at a cafe instead,’” a 40-year-old woman in Tehran, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Radio Farda. “For many, cafes are the only places where happiness and life still exist.”
Beyond serving coffee, tea, and snacks, many cafes have evolved into cultural hubs, hosting book readings, film screenings, art workshops, live music, and other events that draw young Iranians seeking community and creative expression.
“It is like a second home for customers and for us,” said the cafe owner in Tehran.
