Jessica Mendoza

Malls like shopping malls?

The Iran Mall was built by the same guy who founded Ayanda Bank, Ali Ansari.

So by investing in the Iran Mall, Ansari's bank was effectively lending money to his own company, money that came from the Iranian government.

The whole system started to unravel last year when Iran was hit with another major crisis.

Last June, Israel bombed military facilities in Iran and kicked off a 12-day war.

Iranian missiles targeted multiple cities in Israel overnight, with Bat Yam hit the hardest.

While the conflict was short-lived, it was a huge blow to Iran's economy.

The Iranian government had to increase its military spending to rebuild destroyed air defenses and stock up on missiles, which added to the strain on the country's funds.

And the war also had an impact on Iranians themselves.

It made them really anxious, anxious that there could be more attacks and that the economy would tank.

The currency crisis put a target on Ayande Bank.

Some politicians worried for years that Iran's central bank was printing too much money to support Ayande, at a time when inflation was soaring.

Now, they wanted it closed.

In October, the central bank announced that Ayande would be shut down.

In a statement, Ayande Bank's founder Ali Ansari blamed the bank's failure on, quote, decisions and policies made beyond the bank's control.

Days after the collapse, the United Kingdom sanctioned Ansari, calling him a, quote, corrupt Iranian banker and businessman.

Ayande Bank had reached its end.

But for the Iranian government, the crisis was just beginning.

That's next.

After the collapse of Ayande at the end of 2025, how bad was the Iranian economy?