Shortly after the Islamic Revolution, the father of that terrible upheaval, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini promised that with the Shah gone and the Islamic Republic in power, water and electricity would be free for the working class, public transportation would cost nothing, and the government would lift the morale and spirit of the people.

Nearly 50 years later, the reality could not be further from those promises: Iranians pay water and electricity bills for unreliable service, buses are not free—many are old and lack air conditioning—and the only things rising in Iran are the prices of dollars and gold.