![A man holds a stack of Iranian Rials in front of a shop in the capital Tehran on July 31, 2018. - Iran's currency traded at a fresh record-low of 119,000 to the dollar on today, a loss of nearly two-thirds of its value since the start of the year as US sanctions loom. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2018/12/GettyImages-1008134942.jpg/GettyImages-1008134942.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=WptC1PLu)
Zep Kalb is a Ph.D. student at the Department of Sociology, UCLA, researching development and contentious politics in the Middle East. A graduate from Oxford, he worked in Iran as a business journalist for a local newspaper and finished a master’s at the University of Tehran. On Twitter: @KalbZep
![A man holds a stack of Iranian Rials in front of a shop in the capital Tehran on July 31, 2018. - Iran's currency traded at a fresh record-low of 119,000 to the dollar on today, a loss of nearly two-thirds of its value since the start of the year as US sanctions loom. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2018/12/GettyImages-1008134942.jpg/GettyImages-1008134942.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=WptC1PLu)
![Iranian shop closed at the ancient Grand Bazaar in Tehran on June 25, 2018. - Grand Bazaar shop owners closed their shops on monday in a rare strike movement to protest against the depreciation of the Iranian currency. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) (Photo credit should read ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images)](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2018/10/GettyImages-983550984.jpg/GettyImages-983550984.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=mqVdSrzV)
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Zep Kalb
![Iran_Wages.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2018/04/Iran_Wages.jpg/Iran_Wages.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=4eubTcoA)
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Zep Kalb
![18839618_248445185633724_1639218984351579632_o.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2018/01/18839618_248445185633724_1639218984351579632_o.jpg/18839618_248445185633724_1639218984351579632_o.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=BTY_V2Rh)
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Zep Kalb
![RTX3COU2.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2017/10-1/RTX3COU2.jpg/RTX3COU2.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=UD5X2X-d)
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Zep Kalb
![Iranian and Afghan girls gather at the Emam Hasan Mojtaba school in Kerman, Iran, October 23, 2016. Picture taken on October 23, 2016. REUTERS/Gabriela Baczynska TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTX2QSS1](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2017/08/RTX2QSS1.jpg/RTX2QSS1.jpg?h=a5ae579a&itok=o56-KI11)
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Zep Kalb
![14991898_1446568745371271_2642051962382548751_n.jpg](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2017/05/14991898_1446568745371271_2642051962382548751_n.jpg/14991898_1446568745371271_2642051962382548751_n.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=mgBCszWl)
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Zep Kalb