ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Vegetable prices in the Kurdistan Region have risen by 100 percent due to the ongoing war between the United States and Israel against Iran. Fuel prices have also increased, the dinar has weakened, and trade revenue from border crossings has been halved, officials said Friday.
Sarwar Ali, head of the Sulaimani wholesale market union, told Rudaw that "Iran has stopped exporting all vegetable and fruit products, and as a result, prices have risen significantly."
Providing examples, Ali said that the wholesale price for a kilo of potatoes was 400 Iraqi dinars ($0.30) before the war and has now risen to 800 dinars ($0.60), reaching citizens at a retail price of 1,250 dinars ($0.95). For cucumbers, the wholesale price was 750 dinars ($0.56) before the war and is now 1,110 dinars ($0.83), with retail prices reaching 1,750 dinars ($1.31).
Ali added that "the items currently available that have seen price hikes are Iranian products remaining in stock; currently, Iran is not exporting anything." On alternative routes, he said, they "can be imported from Turkey, but the price will be more expensive."
Rajab Haji Aziz, head of the Erbil wholesale market council, confirmed the increases: "A kilo of onions was previously 300 dinars ($0.23) wholesale and is now 800 dinars ($0.60); cucumbers were 600 dinars ($0.45) and are now 1,100 dinars ($0.83); and peppers were 700 dinars ($0.53) and have risen to 1,500 dinars ($1.13)."
"All the products that have increased in price are Iranian, as they are not being imported right now," he told Rudaw.
This comes as the Iranian government announced on Tuesday a ban on the export of all food and agricultural products to meet domestic needs amid the ongoing war with the US and Israel.