Fereshteh Hajipour, a 35-year-old mother of a toddler, said she was storing food and over-the-counter medicine in case of “possible war and bigger bombs.” Hashem Vajdani, 45, a gym trainer, said he had packed to travel to a safer town in northern Iran and bought canned food, crackers and blankets.

Their concerns come as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calls for Iran’s leadership to be eliminated and U.S. President Donald Trump vows to “finish the job.” A third U.S. aircraft carrier and thousands of additional troops are heading to the region, according to the account of the military buildup. Some Iranians fear new attacks could come after the U.S. midterm elections on Nov. 3.

Iranian leaders have signaled they expect further strikes. Sasan Karimi, a former government official and foreign policy professor at the University of Tehran, said the leadership was preparing for different scenarios. “They’ve accepted that he will attack us again, before or after the elections,” he said.

The threat of renewed combat is layered over worsening economic hardship. A U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports has restricted oil exports, while trade has shifted toward overland routes and trucks have backed up at borders. The blockade has contributed to medicine shortages, though there have been no reported shortages of food or other essential goods. Iran’s currency has fallen to record lows and inflation has surged.

The cost of basic groceries has climbed sharply since the war began in March. Rice is more than 60% more expensive and beef more than 150%, according to the figures cited by residents. Mohammad Mohammadi, 36, said a supermarket visit can consume half of a mid-range monthly salary of 400 million rials, or about $150. Mohammad Abedi, 39, said he was buying extra rice, cooking oil and dried dates because of attacks near the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran has threatened U.S. bases and regional allies and warned it could target additional sites, including undersea data cables in the Strait of Hormuz. The strait has seen its highest number of reported attacks on commercial ships this month since the opening weeks of the war. Iranian officials have accused Washington of using economic pressure to foment unrest. Parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf called economic warfare the main front in the conflict, while President Masoud Pezeshkian described the country as facing “a dangerous turning point.”

The war has already killed thousands and damaged or destroyed thousands of homes, including in Tehran, where bombed-out buildings remain. Trump has repeatedly threatened strikes on power plants and other infrastructure. Memories of deadly nationwide protests over economic pressures, shortly before the war, add to concerns about the consequences of further hardship.

Negotiations through mediators have yielded little publicly. Trump rejected an Iranian proposal last month to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz within a week, subject to conditions including lifting the blockade. Some Iranian moderates have urged a deal to protect the economy, but Karimi said economic pressure would not shift Tehran’s negotiating position.

The elections may affect the risk of escalation, but residents interviewed in Tehran expressed little hope that voting would ease hostility. Analyst Rahman Ghahremanpour said Netanyahu’s return to office would raise the chance of renewed all-out war, citing his willingness to take major risks. “It makes no difference. Their hostility toward us remains unchanged,” Tehran resident Rasool Ghanbari, 50, said of the elections.