Tehran, Iran – Iran’s embattled national currency has hit a new record low amid ongoing protests and a lack of progress in efforts to restore the country’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. The US dollar for the first time breached the 350,000 mark against the Iranian rial in the open market at the start of the working week on Saturday. The rial continued its slide, falling to around 362,000 per dollar later in the day. The Iranian government still maintains a drastically lower artificial rate of 42,000 rials to the dollar as the official figure, even after a subsidy reform plan earlier this year abolished the use of that rate for imports of some essential goods. The dollar changed hands at around 300,000 rials in early September, but the Iranian currency has been on a downward spiral since nuclear talks stalled again and protests broke out across the country in mid-September after the death of a young woman in custody . Iranians protest the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after she was arrested by morality police last month in Tehran [File: AP Photo] When the nuclear deal was signed in 2015, the Iranian rial fetched more than 10 times what it does to the dollar today. The Central Bank of Iran (CBI) said on Thursday that it will inject more foreign currency into an official market that works for importers and exporters and to respond to “the real demands of the people”. CBI Governor Ali Salehabadi also sought to reassure the market by claiming that the supply of foreign currency “greatly offsets” demand and that the central bank has strong foreign exchange reserves. The latest drop in the value of the Iranian currency comes amid ongoing economic woes and as the country continues to experience a persistent annual inflation rate of more than 40%, some of the highest in the world. Food items continue to see much higher price jumps, with the latest report from Iran’s Statistics Center earlier this week recording a year-on-year increase of 289% and 138% in cooking oil and rice prices, respectively, for the month which ended in October. 22. Meanwhile, protests that gripped the country following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of the “morality police” for allegedly wearing an inappropriate hijab continued on Saturday, with protests reported at several universities across the country. Widespread internet restrictions imposed shortly after the protests began are also believed to have caused significant losses to Iranian businesses, but the exact extent remains unclear amid ongoing unrest.
“Deadlock” the nuclear agreement
The riyal had experienced a period of relative stability earlier this year and had even regained some ground amid news that a deal to restore the nuclear deal may be on the way. The currency had fallen after the US pulled out of the nuclear deal in 2018 and imposed tough sanctions. But it began to lose value again as Tehran and Washington could not see a deal in sight, delaying efforts to revive the deal, effectively postponing talks until after the upcoming US midterm elections. The imposition of new sanctions by the US and the European Union in the wake of weeks of protests has further renewed the standoff, reducing the chances of restoring the deal as Tehran accused the US of being behind “riots”. US officials have said in recent weeks that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), as the deal is formally known, is not a priority right now, while EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters on Friday that negotiations were to “dead end” and “there is nothing new”. That contradicts claims by Iranian officials who have said the US has sent messages aimed at reaching a deal quickly. Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said on Saturday that Tehran had conveyed a message to Washington through the EU and expected a response within days. He had also said earlier this week that Iran would soon send a team to Vienna to continue talks with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) over the open case of unexplained nuclear materials found at various sites, which Tehran said that should be resolved. before any agreement.
