Iran’s annual inflation rate in May reached its highest level since World War II, highlighting the deepening economic crisis facing ordinary citizens as the country grapples with conflict, sanctions and long-standing structural problems.According to data released by Iran’s Central Bank, the consumer price index rose 77.2 percent year-on-year in May, while monthly inflation rose 8.5 percent compared with April. Prices of everyday necessities, including medicine, taxi fares, tobacco and communication services, rose 113.8 percent from a year earlier.The figures mark the first official acknowledgment of the severe inflationary pressures already being felt by Iranians, many of whom have seen the cost of basic goods and services rise amid a sharp decline in the value of the national currency.The Bamdad Institute of Economic Studies, a private Iranian think tank, described the inflation rate as “an unprecedented rate since World War II.”War, sanctions and economic stressAccording to the Associated Press, economists say the surge in prices reflects the combined effects of war-related disruptions, U.S. sanctions and years of economic mismanagement.Iran’s oil industry and businesses have suffered significant damage following recent military attacks, while US measures targeting Iranian oil exports have further reduced a major source of revenue for the government.Tax collections have also come under pressure as businesses struggle to recover from months of economic uncertainty.The past decade has seen a dramatic decline in the Iranian rial, falling from about 32,000 rials against the US dollar in 2015 to more than 1.7 million rials per dollar today.Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian had earlier warned citizens that further price increases were likely. “We will definitely have higher prices,” Pezeshkian said in May. “We are fighting and we have to accept this difficulty,” he said.Is another crisis looming?The deteriorating economic situation has revived concerns about the possibility of new anti-government protests. There have been large demonstrations in Iran in recent years due to economic grievances.Rising food prices sparked protests in 2017 and 2018, while rising prices of subsidized fuel also led to widespread unrest, which reportedly left hundreds dead.Earlier this year, protests over the falling rial currency became the most intense demonstrations in Iran since the 1979 revolution and the turbulent years that followed.Analyst Mohsin Jalilvand warned that if the economic situation continues to worsen, social tensions could increase further. “I have no doubt that if Trump goes to (Iran) without a formal peace deal… then potentially, we will see something like January by the end of the summer because of the economic and social conditions,” he said in comments published by Iranian news website Fararu.Meanwhile, some economists say inflation could climb further. Tehran-based economist Saeed Lilaz told The Associated Press that annual inflation could reach 80 percent in the coming months. “Iranian society cannot tolerate annual inflation of more than 25 percent,” he said.