ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Soaring prices of real estate have taken a toll on tenants in the western Kurdish regions of Iran (Rojhelat), after the West reimposed biting UN sanctions on the Islamic republic, as a retaliatory act against the failure of diplomatic talks on the country's nuclear program. Tenants in the city of Oshnavieh (Shno), especially low-income families are plagued by the staggering crisis, as landlords demand huge sums of holding deposit, an issue not everyone can afford to pay. "As a citizen who is a tenant living in this city, rents have unprecedentedly gone up in recent years. How could a laborer who is a tenant afford to pay rents and make his family's ends meet," Awat Rahimi, a tenant in Shno, told Rudaw. "How could they pay their rents, in which 15 to 16 million tomans (around $131-140) is a big amount. They also have to pay 300 to 400 million tomans in mortgage (around $2,635 to $3,513)." Iran's economic woes and deteriorating relations with the West have had great impacts on the estate sector. "Prices compared with last year are a hundred percent different, let alone making a comparison with six years ago. There is inflation. At such times, you have to adapt with the crisis. You have to manage a balance between your livelihood and spendings," Hazahr Darweshi, a real estate owner in Shno said. The head of the Tehran Mass Housing Builders Association says the price of construction materials has increased by 50 percent since last year. "Prices are going up day by day... As you have seen, the situation here gets worse day after day. Businesses are getting worse. Dollar hikes have left a big impact on the markets," Hussein Ali Zada said.
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