Tehran, Iran (CNN) Davood Taraji stands by the refrigerator, listing the price rises that have slowly emptied his otherwise swanky, double-doored appliance over the past weeks.

"The price of an egg has doubled, and milk is about 40% more expensive," he says, putting a half-empty bottle back into the chill. "Fruit and vegetables have gone up 100%."

This is the everyday world of a Tehran taxi driver, caught up in the onslaught of the Trump administration's policy toward Iran and the country's economic slide.

Taraji has been particularly hard-hit as he drives a foreign car, a Toyota, and spare parts for these are under renewed American sanctions that kicked in a week earlier. This means mending the family business is now impossible to afford. The local currency has dropped to a third of its value in 2017, and their plush, yet tiny, two-room apartment feels it hard.

"It's caused us to work longer days to make ends meet," he says. Their home may soon be up for sale if these hardships continue. But he worries most about the education of his children, Artin, 7, who dutifully recites from his English textbook, and Asal, 13, who plays a gentle Siciliana riff on her acoustic guitar.

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