A senior Iranian Interior Ministry official has acknowledged sharp price increases on goods, attributing some of the rise to domestic factors, as well as the ongoing war, Al Jazeera reports.

“The price increases on some items are staggering and cannot be denied,” said Ali Zeinivand, spokesperson for the Interior Ministry. “I really don’t want to attribute everything to the war right now and say it’s because of the war. Some of it might be due to our performances.”