In April 1980, lines outside supermarkets and butcher shops in Tehran were growing day by day. A contemporary Washington Post report connected the waits to anxiety over sanctions and post-revolutionary disruption of trade and food supply.
During the Iran-Iraq War that followed, ration coupons expanded to cover oil, sugar, rice, meat and other essentials. Coupons aimed to distribute goods fairly, but when deliveries and quantities were limited, people still had to queue to receive them.
International tension becomes household time when viewed from daily life. Those waiting were trying to secure the ingredients of today's meal in a society whose future had become difficult to predict.