Iran Offers Subsidized Sacrificial Meat for Eid al-Adha Amid Crippling US Sanctions
Eid al-Adha, one of the holiest festivals in Islam, arrives this year at a moment of acute economic strain for ordinary Iranians. While the tradition of sharing meat from sacrificed animals — known as qurbani — remains central to the observance, the combination of a U.S.-led blockade on Iranian ports and sweeping sanctions has sent food costs spiraling.
Though not as widely observed as Nowruz, the Persian New Year, Eid al-Adha is still marked by mosques and community institutions across Iran. These centers coordinate with authorized livestock markets and slaughterhouses to carry out the ritual sacrifice under Islamic law and hygiene standards. But beyond religious observance, the state-run system has taken on another urgent mission: curbing runaway inflation by selling meat at prices far below the open market.
On Tuesday, a Tehran municipality body announced that sacrificial meat would be sold at designated outlets for 7.4 million rials ($4.30) per kilogram. On the open market, the same cut can cost more than three times that, depending on quality and location. With the monthly minimum wage currently below $100, even the subsidized price stretches household budgets thin.
“I usually buy meat for a stew or two every three weeks. For some families in my neighborhood, it’s become almost a luxury,” said a middle-aged woman who lives with her husband and son in Tehran. She told Al Jazeera that chicken, eggs, and legumes have replaced red meat in her kitchen — but even those staples have become dramatically more expensive.
Industry data underscores the scale of the crisis. Masoud Rasouli, a representative of the meat-packing sector, told the state-linked Mehr news agency earlier this week that demand for red meat has fallen by 50 percent compared to last year. He acknowledged that some meat imports were meant to offset the U.S. blockade, but said local demand is now so suppressed that “existing livestock population is enough for all the needs of the market.”
According to figures from the state-linked Iranian Labour News Agency, the current government-set price for one kilogram of Eid meat is equal to the price of a 50-kilogram live sheep just ten years ago. Meanwhile, the Statistical Center of Iran reported that year-on-year inflation exceeded 73 percent in the first month of the Persian calendar year ending in late April. Rice prices surged 173 percent, chicken rose 191 percent, and liquid cooking oil more than quadrupled. Preliminary data for the following month suggests further deterioration.
Price-control measures, which Tehran has relied on for over a decade to combat persistent inflation, have failed to keep pace with the eroding purchasing power of Iranian households. The compounding effects of domestic mismanagement, U.S. sanctions, and now a full-scale naval blockade have pushed many families to the brink.
A young butcher in southwestern Tehran described the daily grind: “Our sales were a bit higher today because of Eid, but we see even our most loyal customers far less often. Most of the conversations are about prices.” He noted that his shop has had to raise prices multiple times in recent months after suppliers announced hikes.
Against this bleak economic backdrop, the festival also became a stage for political messaging. Iran and the U.S. have held indirect talks through regional mediators, aiming to end the conflict — but no breakthrough has emerged, despite both sides acknowledging that a memorandum of understanding has largely been negotiated. On Wednesday morning, the Iranian capital saw a large Eid prayer at the University of Tehran led by ultraconservative Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami. In his sermon, he framed resistance as a religious duty: “Submitting to humiliation is an example of evil and the height of vice,” he said, accusing the U.S. of seeking Iranian surrender. Referring to U.S. President Donald Trump, he added: “Your enemies, the Iranian nation’s enemies, and this mad enemy sitting in the Black House — which is wrongly referred to as the White House — want your humiliation. But this madman will take that wish to his grave.”
Khatami, a member of the Guardian Council and the Assembly of Experts, also praised nightly street demonstrations by government supporters, calling the three-month-long movement “unprecedented” and predicting it would continue during the Eid al-Adha nights.
President Masoud Pezeshkian struck a relatively softer tone but still wove religious symbolism into his holiday message. “In today’s turbulent world, where the fire of tyranny, occupation, and the arrogance of the hegemonic powers burns bright, Eid al-Adha conveys the message of dignity, liberty, and fearlessness in the face of the pharaohs of our time,” he said.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, in a message on Wednesday, expressed hope for Muslim unity during this difficult period for the region. “We pray that, by the auspiciousness and blessing of this great Eid, we will witness the deepening and strengthening of Islamic solidarity for cooperation and mutual assistance in confronting war, discrimination and occupation, especially in the West Asia region, and that our world will return to the path of reviving peace and justice,” he said.