A briefcase filled with Iranian rial banknotes is displayed at the currency exchange market on Ferdow West Street in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, January 6, 2018.
Ali Mohammadi | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Iran’s currency extended losses on Saturday, hitting a record low against the U.S. dollar amid uncertainty over Donald Trump’s impending White House bid and tensions with the West over Tehran’s nuclear program.
The rial tumbled to 756,000 rials per dollar on the unofficial market on Saturday, compared with 741,500 rials on Friday, according to currency reporting website Bonbast.com. The website bazar360.com says that $1 sells for about 755,000 rials.
Faced with an official inflation rate of about 35%, Iranians have sought a safe haven for their savings and have been buying dollars, other hard currencies, gold or cryptocurrencies, suggesting the rial will face further headwinds.
The dollar has been rising against the rial since early November when it was trading around 690,000 rials. worry Once launched in January, Trump will re-implement a “maximum pressure” policy on Iran, impose tougher sanctions and authorize Israel to strike at Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Iran’s currency falls again after U.N. nuclear agency IAEA board approves European proposals solve Targeting Tehran – raising risk of new sanctions – and following downfall Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is a long-time ally of the Islamic Republic.
In 2018, Trump reneged on the 2015 nuclear deal struck by his predecessor, Barack Obama, and reimposed already-easing economic sanctions on Iran. The deal limits Iran’s ability to enrich uranium, a process that creates fissile material for nuclear weapons.
The Iranian rial has lost more than 90% of its value since sanctions were reimposed in 2018.
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