Iran abruptly raised prices as much as 300% for a variety of staples such as cooking oil, chicken, eggs and milk on Thursday.
Scores of alarmed Iranians waited in long lines to snatch up bundles of food and emptied supermarket shelves across the country in the hours before the price hike took effect.
With the price of flour already up tenfold, the latest move was likely to cause more hardship for many Iranians.
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On Thursday, Iran's currency dropped to a low of 300,000 rial to the dollar.
Food prices across the Middle East have surged due to global supply chain snarls and Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which both export many essentials.
Iran imports half of its cooking oil from Ukraine, where fighting has kept many farmers from the fields.
Although Iran produces roughly half of its own wheat, the war has added to inflationary pressures.